‘Islamic banks were asked to address deficit’

Bangladesh Bank has asked the Islamic banks in crisis to resolve the current account deficit but has not decided to remove them from the clearing platform.

Bangladesh Bank Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque came up with the statement in a press conference on Sunday morning.

Speaking at the press conference, Md Mezbaul Haque said that Islamic banks are well placed in every index.

“But, Islamic banks fail to maintain statutory deposits due to structural problems. Bangladesh Bank also thinks that it is high time to consider alternatives for these banks,” he said.

He stated that a major part of remittances come through these banks and these banks account for 26 percent of total loans.

Meanwhile, the second tranche of the IMF loan and the addition of the ADB loan increased the total reserves to $25.82 billion, Md Mezbaul Haque said at the press conference.

According to the calculation of IMF's accounting system, the reserve now stands at 20.41 billion dollars.