State-owned commercial banks are capable of disbursing loans, but are weak in collecting those loans on time, said Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur.

He also said that if loans are given by selecting customers properly, the risk of them turning into defaults is greatly reduced.

He made these remarks as a special guest at the Sonali Bank Annual Conference 2026 at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in the capital on Monday (February 2).

The governor said that due to the imposition of various restrictions for a long time, there has been extra caution in the lending activities of government banks. As a result, although they are capable of disbursing loans, they are not getting the desired success in collection. In this situation, the flow of loans had to be kept narrow in the past.

However, he noted that the flow of loans to government banks was limited even before 2000, which is by no means a sustainable model.

Ahsan H Mansur said: “If a bank cannot make an effective contribution to the larger economy by collecting deposits, then that achievement becomes limited. Sonali Bank is currently distributing loans cautiously, but now it is time to expand its lending activities more boldly.”

He also said that although consumer lending and house lending are important sectors internationally, the country's government banks are not able to play a significant role in this regard. Especially in consumer lending, there is great potential, but progress is limited.

He commented that there is an opportunity to work on a large scale in this sector.

Stressing on the transformation of Sonali Bank into a full-fledged commercial bank, the governor said that currently the bank is being operated partially on commercial banking policies. It should be operated on a more extensive commercial basis and turned into a profitable institution.

Regarding last year's profit, he said that this income will help meet the bank's capital and provision deficit. He hoped that Sonali Bank will also be able to pay dividends in the future.

The governor further said that the government will give Sonali Bank the freedom to operate in a truly commercial manner and he hopes that the next government will continue this trend. At the same time, he called on Sonali Bank to take more effective initiatives to increase remittance flow.

Expressing optimism about the non-performing loan (NPL) situation, Ahsan H Mansur said that Sonali Bank's non-performing loan rate has already decreased from 18% and it is expected to decrease further.

However, for this, it is necessary to increase the amount of loan disbursement.

Finally, he said that caution should be maintained in providing loans and capable entrepreneurs and good SME customers at the field level should be identified.