Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has presented an ambitious budget with an expenditure of Tk 9.38 trillion to achieve 6. 5 per cent growth. He also said that from now on, the country's economy will be investment-driven.

This is because the government's long-term goal is to make the economy worth one trillion dollars by 2034, which is currently exactly half of that. However, none of these goals will be achieved if the country's banking sector remains severely distressed and fragile.

This is because Bangladesh's economy is entirely dependent on the banking sector. The assets of the banking sector constitute 50 per cent of the total GDP. Of these assets, 85 per cent are loans and investments. Even the government relies on the banking sector. This time, 46 per cent of the budget deficit will be funded from the banking sector.

The finance minister himself highlighted the dismal state of the banking sector in the budget. For example, the banking sector has non-performing loans amounting to Tk 6.44 trillion, making up 35. 73 per cent of total loans. The capital adequacy ratio has fallen to a negative 2. 64 per cent. The growth rate of private sector loans has also decreased to 6. 5 per cent.

However, at the time of presenting the budget, this rate further fell to 4. 75 per cent, the lowest in the country's history. Currently, private loans comprise only 21. 53 per cent of the total GDP, the lowest in the last decade.

Furthermore, new instability in the banking sector has emerged due to issues centering around Islami Bank. In this situation, if the banking sector is not fixed now, according to the finance minister, economic recovery in the first year and transition in the next three years will not be possible.