State-owned Sonali Bank PLC provided a Tk 7,000 crore loan to National Bank PLC to help the struggling private lender meet customer withdrawal demands, according to a report by The Daily Star.
Md Shawkat Ali Khan, managing director of Sonali Bank, confirmed that the three-month loan carries a 10 percent interest rate. The Bangladesh Bank provided a 100 percent guarantee for the transaction.
Sonali Bank faces no risk because the central bank will repay the amount if National Bank fails to clear the debt on time. Shawkat expressed hope that the funds would restore depositor confidence.
Prof Melita Mehjabeen, chairman of National Bank, said the bank is preparing to resume full banking services on October 15. The institution has already started taking withdrawal requests and received nearly 7,000 requests.
Melita noted that arrangements are underway to send funds to every branch so customers can access services. Top executives of National Bank had met Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman to seek support last week.
Governor Mostaqur assured the lender of liquidity assistance and stressed that protecting depositors remains the top priority. He instructed National Bank to ensure that depositors can withdraw money from all branches and ATM booths without being turned away.
BB Executive Director and Spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said the bank will receive liquidity support as needed. Melita added that while the central bank instructed the lender to reopen, the regulator did not specify the exact mechanism of assistance.
National Bank incurred heavy financial losses over recent years. The lender posted losses totaling nearly Tk 9,000 crore across the four years leading up to 2025.
In 2025 alone, the bank recorded a loss of Tk 2,430 crore. That figure marked a 41 percent jump from the Tk 1,722 crore loss reported in the previous year.
Non-performing loans reached 59.69 percent of total outstanding loans by the end of 2025. The latest funding arrives after four depositors approached the High Court last month to gain access to their savings.
National Bank is one of the oldest private lenders in Bangladesh. The bank has relied on uncollateralised liquidity support from Bangladesh Bank over the past several years due to funding shortages and high bad loans.