S Alam Group companies alone have taken more than half of the total loans of Islami Bank, recovering which is the challenge for the authorities, said Md. Obayed Ullah Al Masud, newly appointed chairman of the private commericial lender.

After meeting with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur on Thursday, Al Masud said this to reporters.

He said the total disbursed loans of Islami Bank is around Tk 1.75 trillion of which S Alam Group alone took more than half or Tk 875 billion. But it is not the final account which needs another week to get the complete information, he said.

“The group depreciated the assets and took out the debt. His assets are already being reassessed. Also, the collaterals against the loan will not be covered. Therefore, a letter has been written to the Law Ministry to find out the assets that are outside the collateral,” said the Islami Bank chairman.

He said, when the new board took over, Tk 2300 crore was short. It is decreasing every day.

“Till today (Thursday) it has reduced to Tk2000 crore. Hopefully it will return to a positive trend within this year. Many customers will not have the problem of withdrawing money after today. Because the withdrawals are less than the amount deposited in the last week,” he pointed out.

Asked what kind of action is being taken against various officials who have cooperated with S. Alam, he said, "We do not want to move the officials down now. Because if you hit the bottom now, everything will collapse. Some of the above are already being removed. All will be removed gradually. Action will be taken according to rules. No one will be exempted."

The new chairman of Islami Bank said that a roadmap has been drawn up to turn the bank around. This roadmap is done in three phases-First of all to find out and take various steps from the beginning of the new board till December 31. Secondly, the year 2025-26 has been given as the turnaround year. Third, 2027-29 will be the leap forward years, he said.