During the eighteen months of the interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus, individual bank accounts holding deposits of 1 crore taka or more rose significantly in the country. According to Bangladesh Bank data, the number of such accounts rose from 33,629 to 40,645 in this period. That is, 7,016 new crore-taka accounts were added in eighteen months, a growth of about 21 percent.
Bangladesh Bank’s latest “Banking Sector Update” report shows that at the end of September 2024 the total deposits in individual crore-taka accounts stood at 87,200 crore taka. By the end of March 2026 that had risen to 91,400 crore taka.
In the view of economists and those connected with the banking sector, a 21 percent rise in crore-taka accounts in such a short time is not fully consistent with normal economic trends amid high inflation, stagnant investment, slow growth in private-sector credit and the pressure of poverty. There is therefore a need for analysis and investigation into the reasons behind this growth.
A senior Bangladesh Bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said new influential groups emerge in various sectors after a political change. It is thought that crore-taka accounts may be rising because a portion of money earned from extortion, land-grabbing and other illegal activities is being deposited in banks.
The former finance adviser and former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, however, believes there may be several reasons behind it.
He said: “After the boards of weak banks were reconstituted, many depositors broke their fixed deposits (FDRs) and moved them to comparatively strong banks. At the same time, the tendency to keep cash in banks and the rise of a new business class may also have played a part in the increase in crore-taka accounts.”
Asked whether some people connected with the new centres of power had quickly become wealthy after the political change, he said: “A portion of the business, trade and various economic activities that had long been under the control of certain people passed into the hands of a new group after the change. That effect may also be reflected in the rise in bank accounts.”
Bangladesh Bank’s data, on the other hand, gives little support to the idea that crore-taka accounts have risen because people’s household cash has been deposited in banks. In September 2024 the amount of cash held by the public outside banks was 2 lakh 83 thousand 553 crore taka. By the end of March 2026 that had risen to 3 lakh 3 thousand 18 crore taka. That is, cash outside banks also rose in the same period.
In the view of the former director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), Dr Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, the rise of new business and influential classes after the change of power, and the transfer of deposits from weak banks, may also be among the reasons for the rise in crore-taka accounts. He also believes that with private-sector investment falling, large sums have been kept in banks as fixed deposits.
During the interim government, the boards of 16 private banks in the country were reconstituted. Changes were also made to the chairmen and management of several more banks. In the same period, private-sector credit growth fell to the lowest level in history and banks became more interested in investing in government treasury bills and bonds.
On this, Bangladesh Bank’s executive director and spokesperson, Arif Hossain Khan, said the central bank has strengthened close monitoring and supervision to ensure good governance in the banking sector. Crore-taka accounts may rise because of the economic situation. But if any connection with illegal or undisclosed money is found behind it, necessary action will be taken, he said.
Discussion of the matter has also begun in political circles. The BNP joint secretary-general Syed Emran Saleh Prince said that if the information published by Bangladesh Bank is correct, a neutral investigation by the administration and the central bank is needed to find the reasons for this abnormal rise in crore-taka accounts.
In the view of observers of the banking sector, the rise in crore-taka accounts is on the one hand an important indicator of the economy; but data-based analysis and effective monitoring are needed to make clear how much of a role legitimate business, transfers of deposits, slow investment or flows of illegal money have each played behind it.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report