Bangladesh will need to allocate Tk60,000 crore annually from the national budget over the next five to eight years to recover from losses in the banking sector, Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman has said.
"When I took over as governor, one-third of the money had already been stolen," he said, referring to the losses in the banking sector, while speaking at a Bangla QR promotional event organised by ONE Bank at United International University today (10 October).
Mostaqur said the money could have supported 2 crore families or funded the construction of two Padma bridges.
"Plunderers took the people's money. It is not enough to call it theft; they plundered it. Legal action is also being taken against them," he added.
Responding to a student's question about failures to withdraw money from ATMs and bank branches, Mostaqur said concerns have been raised over withdrawals from Sammilito Islami Bank, formed through the merger of several banks.
Bangladesh Bank has provided full support to the merged bank, which can now meet all customer withdrawal requests, he added.
National Bank will also be able to repay all customers from 15 October, he said.
The governor said the government raised the revenue collection target for FY2026-27 by Tk2 lakh crore from the previous target.
He said the target can be achieved if Bangla QR is fully implemented nationwide.
Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio is below 7% but can exceed 10% once Bangla QR is fully operational, he added.
Mostaqur attributed the low ratio partly to businesses not fully recording transactions, adding that QR payments will bring these transactions into the formal accounting system.
Addressing concerns about QR codes being used for suspicious transactions, he said such transactions also occur through mobile financial services (MFS) and the banking sector.
Bangladesh Bank has systems in place to detect suspicious transactions across all these channels, he added.