24 banks agree to issue Tk 56.65b bonds to pay power sector dues

An official of the Ministry of Finance on Thursday said that 24 banks have agreed to issue bonds worth Tk 56.65 billion (5,665 crore) to help the government pay money to the owners of private power plants.

The government owes more than $2 billion or around Tk 230 billion (23000 crore) to the private power plants as bills.

The government is unable to pay the money because of the financial crisis. As a result, the power plants are not able to pay the money taken from banks as loan. Many of such loans provided to those power plants have been defaulted.

To deal with the situation, bonds of Tk 120 billion (12,000 crore) will be issued against the loans taken by the power plants, an official said on condition of anonymity.

Already, 24 banks have agreed to issue bonds worth Tk 56.65 billion (5,665 crore), the official said, confirming that an MoU agreement has been signed in this regard by the Ministry of Finance on February 6.

A letter may be sent to the Bangladesh Bank from the Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance, for issuing bonds this week.

After that, the Bangladesh Bank will issue this bond in 3-4 working days, the official said.