News Flash
By Mushtaq Ahmed
DHAKA, Sept 28, 2025 (BSS) - State-owned Rupali Bank Managing Director (MD) Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam has said a dedicated taskforce comprising bank officials is actively working to recover non-performing loan (NPL) of Tk 22,000 crore, with Tk 1,700 crore already retrieved through its efforts.
He came up with the development during an exclusive interview with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) at the bank's head office in Motijheel on Sunday.
Wahidul Islam said that the bank's defaulted loans, disbursed to various institutions over the past 16 years, have now accumulated to approximately Tk 22,000 crore. In response, the bank has intensified its recovery efforts, forming a dedicated taskforce earlier this year to address classified loans.
Two specialised groups are currently operating from the head office under the leadership of the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs), while General Managers (GMs) have been assigned specific zones and major loan accounts. Deputy General Managers have been tasked with branch-level monitoring to ensure comprehensive oversight.
"We have declared 2025 as the year for defaulted loan recovery," Wahidul Islam said, adding that all officers and employees were given individual recovery targets on February 3, based on their designation, to address both classified and centrally classified written-off loans.
The MD explained that committees have also been formed at the GM and DGM offices at field and branch levels. "We are going to the field with DMDs from the head office and in their absence, we are taking the GM."
He said, "We have held a conference with the DGMs of the recovery department at the field level in each divisional zone at the beginning of the year. Now we are doing it again after half a year."
"Our main focus is on the recovery of classified loans. As such, the data we have received within September 25 shows that we have been able to recover the most defaulted loans among the state-owned commercial banks through cash and coordination," he added.
The MD said, "We have now recovered about Tk 1100 crore in cash, and about Tk 650 crore in coordination and cash."
He said that customers are being served through 586 branches of Rupari Bank across the country.
In response to a question, he said, "We are looking for better customers. We want a sustainable development by selecting good customers. Today, I gave a loan, but after a year, when I renewed the loan, it was found that it was expiring, they did not apply for renewal... This will not happen. We are actually doing customer selection."
Whether there are any absconding borrowers among the big loans, the MD replied, "I do not know exactly about the absconding borrowers, but we are looking at whether there are transactions in the account."
He said, "We are evaluating the turnover based on the transactions ... If there are proper transactions, we will renew the loan as per the rules."
The MD said, "We have so far selected good customers and have disbursed loans worth around Tk 2,600 crore this year. We are focusing more on the CMS sector."
He also revealed their plan for branch expansion. About 44 branches from last year's list had to be sent again.
Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam, who assumed the role of Managing Director at Rupali Bank in December 2024 following his government promotion, said, "I am working to deepen the bank's reliance on modern technology. Our operations and procedures are increasingly becoming technology-driven, and we aim to position Rupali Bank as a leader in digital banking innovation."
He said the former Rupali Sure Cash service has now been rebranded as "Rupali Cash", with its formal inauguration already announced. Previously operated through a third-party vendor, the platform has been under the bank's own management since 2016 and is now run via in-house applications.
He added that the bank's board of directors, under the leadership of Chairman Nazrul Huda, is steering the institution forward with measured and strategic steps.
