The amount of total default loan in the country’s banks and financial institutions has increased by about Tk 43,210 crore since September 2015, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal informed parliament today.

In 2018, the total default loan in the sector stood at Tk 1,02,315.19 crore which was Tk 59,105 crore at the end September 2015, the minister said while replying to a query of Workers’ Party of Bangladesh lawmaker Lutfun Nesa Khan.

The minister also said that the number of loan defaulters also increased by 58,436 in the same period.

The number of loan defaulters was 1,11,954 in September 2015 and that soared to 1,70,390, the minister said quoting The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of Bangladesh Bank.

The lawmaker sought information of loan defaulters and the amount of defaulted loan from 2009, but minister gave the figure from September 2015 as the CIB has no such data before September 2015.