Dhaka — At least five prominent businessmen officially classified by Bangladesh Bank as willful loan defaulters were sworn in as members of parliament on Sunday, according to election results and regulatory documents reviewed by SourceRated. Their arrival on the legislative floor has intensified concerns about the country’s $15-billion non-performing loan problem and the transparency of candidate screening.
Election Commission records show that the ruling Awami League endorsed three of the men, while two ran as independents and later signaled support for the government bloc. Combined, the newly minted lawmakers owe state-owned and private banks roughly Tk 8.6 billion ($78 million) in overdue principal and interest, according to a March 7 list circulated to lenders by Bangladesh Bank’s Credit Information Bureau.
“This is not merely a banking issue—it is a governance issue,” said a senior central bank official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to comment on political matters. “When people who have failed to honor contractual debt obligations now hold the power to write financial legislation, the system sends a conflicted message.”
Under the country’s Representation of the People Order, anyone who has defaulted for more than six months is theoretically barred from contesting elections unless the debt is cleared at least seven days before nomination. The Election Commission said the candidates provided clearance letters from their banks, but anti-corruption activists allege the certificates were “cosmetic restructurings” that did not extinguish the arrears.
The five MPs—textile magnate Anwarul Haque, shipping entrepreneur Mizan Rahman, real-estate developer Salma Islam, agro-processor Kamruzzaman Khan and steel importer Faridul Alam—did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In brief remarks to reporters outside parliament, Rahman said, “My companies are negotiating with lenders and everything is within the law.”
Opposition legislators from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) walked out of Sunday’s opening session in protest. “The house cannot credibly oversee the economy when some of its own members owe the banks billions,” BNP whip Rumeen Farhana told journalists.
The controversy comes as non-performing loans in Bangladesh’s banking sector reached 9.36 percent of total advances in December, the highest in four years, central bank data show. Analysts warn that political protection for large borrowers could complicate the regulator’s plan to tighten loan-classification rules later this year.
Looking ahead, parliamentary committees on finance and banking are scheduled to be reconstituted next month. Watchdogs say the speaker’s choices will signal whether the legislature intends to insulate oversight from potential conflicts of interest. International ratings agencies are also monitoring the episode as they prepare mid-year reviews of the country’s banking outlook.