News Flash
DHAKA, Oct 8, 2025 (BSS) – Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur at a high-level meeting today informed that inflation has dropped significantly - from 12.5 percent to 8.3 percent in the recent months.
“We cannot restore the overall health of the banking sector properly yet, though ongoing reforms are gradually showing progress. But, some positive outcomes are already visible,” he said.
“Bangladesh now holds foreign exchange reserves equivalent to five months of imports. Inflation has dropped significantly—from 12.5 percent to 8.3 percent,” he said, adding that the inflation could have fallen further to around 7 percent in the last one or two months, but a temporary rise in rice prices prevented that.
The central bank chief said this at the meeting of the National Steering Committee formed to implement and monitor the smooth and sustainable transition strategy of Bangladesh from the LDC status at the Chief Adviser’s Office in the city’s Tejgaon area with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, later, briefed the reporters at the Foreign Service Academy here about the details of the meeting this afternoon.
Mansur, however, said that rice prices have begun to decline again and hoped that the inflation would continue falling in the coming days.
About non-performing loans (NPLs), he said the NPLs have reached around 24 percent, a situation largely caused by the large-scale corruption and looting of banks during the previous government led by Sheikh Hasina, which badly affected the overall health of the banking sector.
Referring to the legacy issues of the past, the governor reiterated that the surge in NPLs was mainly due to the massive bank thefts and irregularities during the Sheikh Hasina regime, when millions of dollars were embezzled.
The central bank has now set a target to reduce NPLs from the current 24 percent to a level between 4 and 5 percent, Mansur added.
As part of financial sector restructuring, he said, five Islamic banks will be merged, and nine non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), also known as leasing companies, will be phased out.
To encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, a venture capital fund of Taka 900 crore is being established by commercial banks, with Bangladesh Bank contributing an additional Taka 600 crore, the governor informed the meeting.
Mansur also emphasized the need to promote a cashless transaction system in Bangladesh to boost revenue and reduce cash-handling costs.
Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin, Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Agriculture Adviser Lt. General (Retd) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Principal Secretary to the Chief Adviser M Siraz Uddin Miah, NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, Special Envoy on International Affairs to the Chief Adviser Lutfey Siddiqi, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Ministry Faiz Taiyeb Ahmad, Principal Coordinator for SDGs Lamiya Morshed, and senior officials of the Economic Relations Division joined the meeting.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan, FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Taskin Ahmed, and Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries President Abdul Muktadir were also present at the meeting.
