Dr. Zahid Hussain, Lead Economist, World Bank : It is a welcome initiative to publish the names of loan defaulters. In addition to that, there should have a provision of interim penalty.
According to official data, the total non-performing loans (NPLs) reached 10.4 percent till June 2018, most of which are not classified. The number of bad debts or bad loans is very high. However, no major initiative was seen to address the problem of loan defaults.
Question may arise if the list of 100 loan defaulters includes the names of all big guns. However, no claim has ever been made that they are not loan defaulters. It is a good beginning considering the fact that the names of some big shots have been published at least.
Now the question is: Will there be a follow-up? Some punitive actions should be taken against the names that have not yet been published officially. No fresh loan should be given as long as the name remains on the list. The policy support should be suspended for the loan defaulting business organizations.
The aim of publishing the names of loan defaulters is to get back the money through legal procedures. There should have a provision for interim penalty since our legal proceedings are very complicated and a case takes much time to be disposed of.
The loan defaulters should not be given loans anew. They should also be deprived of policy support once they are identified as loan defaulters. Any such measure will send out a strong message to the loan defaulters. The good initiative will yield positive results if there is a follow-up.
Based on an interview by Ashiq Rahman, translated by Hossen Sohel
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