NSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences organises NPL seminar

North South University's (NSU) School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) hosted a seminar under its Faculty Seminar Series on 'Camouflaging Crisis: A Political Economy Analysis of Non-performing Loan Suppression in Bangladesh' at the SHSS Conference Room.

The seminar brought together faculty members, academics, students, and economics enthusiasts. The keynote presentation was delivered by Dr AKM Waresul Karim, Professor of Accounting and Finance and Dean of the School of Business and Economics (SBE) at NSU. The session was moderated by Dr Md Rizwanul Islam, Professor of Law and Dean of SHSS.

In his remarks, Dr Rizwanul Islam noted that large bank loans were sometimes sanctioned without proper scrutiny, citing Supreme Court judgments that exposed irregularities and mismanagement in the loan sanctioning process, which contributed to rising non-performing loans (NPLs).

Professor Karim argued that the suppression of NPLs could be explained by George Stigler's regulatory capture theory, where influential entities manipulate regulatory bodies for personal benefit. He highlighted that Bangladesh's NPL ratio stood at 27.09% by June 2025, with the volume reaching Tk 5.76 trillion. He attributed the crisis to political capture, the usurpation of financial institutions, and a lack of governance, while recommending punitive action against perpetrators and buy-back mechanisms for toxic assets.

Md Zakir Hossain, Deputy Managing Director and Acting CRO of Mercantile Bank PLC, served as discussant. He corroborated the challenges identified in the presentation, stressing that Bangladesh has the highest NPL rate in Asia and offering industry-level insights on risk management and regulatory pressure.

NSU Vice-Chancellor Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury attended as chief guest. He said regulatory failures over the last decade had undermined the banking sector but emphasised the potential for young entrepreneurs to contribute to national development. He expressed hope that the seminar would inspire new policy ideas for reforming the financial sector.

The seminar concluded with an interactive Q&A session, where faculty members discussed the political and economic consequences of NPL suppression and its impact on financial stability.