Bangladesh Bank Injects Fresh Liquidity Into National Bank So Depositors Can Finally Withdraw in Full From October 15

For months, getting your own money out of National Bank PLC has not been simple. Branches rationed withdrawals, some customers say they were turned away at the counter, and in September four depositors went to the High Court asking for access to their savings. That chapter is now set to close. Bangladesh Bank has agreed to inject fresh liquidity into National Bank so it can meet withdrawal demand in full, and the bank's board says every branch and ATM will serve customers on demand from October 15.

• Bangladesh Bank will inject new liquidity into National Bank PLC to let it repay depositors on demand.
• Full counter, ATM, mobile app and internet banking service resumes nationwide from October 15.
• National Bank's non performing loan ratio stood at 59.69% at the end of 2025, among the worst of any bank in the country.
• The bank has lost close to Tk9,000 crore since 2022, and has already received Tk10,568 crore in central bank liquidity support.

What Bangladesh Bank and National Bank Agreed

The agreement followed a meeting in Dhaka between National Bank's chairman, Prof Melita Mehjabeen, its acting managing director, Zahidul Haque, and Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman. The governor told the bank that protecting depositors would remain the regulator's top priority and directed it to ensure every depositor can withdraw on demand. National Bank's board, meeting the same day, instructed management to restore full service by October 15. "We are determined to fully restore customers' trust through good governance, transparency and accountability," Mehjabeen said. "National Bank is returning to customer service at full pace," she added.

How National Bank Got Here

National Bank is one of Bangladesh's oldest private commercial banks, and its slide has been years in the making rather than a sudden shock. A wave of loan defaults, much of it tied to politically connected borrowers who stopped repaying, left the bank unable to book interest income while its own borrowing costs kept rising. The bank swung to a consolidated loss of Tk3,260 crore in 2022, and losses have continued most years since, even as the size of the annual shortfall has moved around.

By the end of 2025, the bank's non performing loan ratio had climbed to 59.69%, meaning well over half of everything it has lent out is not being repaid on schedule. Bangladesh Bank at one point explored merging National Bank with United Commercial Bank, but National Bank's board chose not to go ahead with that option, leaving the central bank's liquidity support, rather than a merger, as the path being tried now.

The Bigger Picture: Tk76,000 Crore Propping Up Weak Banks

National Bank is not an isolated case, it is one name on a growing list. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said that as of early June 2026, Bangladesh Bank had extended roughly Tk76,000 crore, about $6.2 billion, in uncollateralised liquidity support to weak banks across the sector. National Bank's share of that was Tk10,568 crore. The single largest recipient was First Security Islami Bank, with Tk15,810 crore outstanding, a reminder that National Bank's troubles sit inside a wider pattern of distressed lenders that the central bank has chosen to keep afloat with fresh cash rather than let fail outright.

"Protecting depositors would remain the regulator's priority," Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman told National Bank's board, according to the bank.

What It Means for Depositors and Borrowers

If you bank with National Bank, the practical change from October 15 is that you should be able to withdraw what you ask for, at any branch or ATM, without the informal rationing that has frustrated customers in recent months. For depositors weighing whether to keep money with a weaker bank at all, this is also a reminder to look at where a fixed deposit or savings account earns the most for a given level of comfort with the bank's health. BD Financial Review's FDR rate comparison tool is a useful starting point, and the FDR and DPS calculator can help you work out what a given rate actually earns you over time. For borrowers, a bank this deep in bad loans is also likely to stay cautious about new lending for a while yet, even with fresh liquidity in hand, since much of that support is aimed at meeting withdrawal demand rather than funding new credit.

What Happens Next

The October 15 deadline is now the test. Bangladesh Bank has set the expectation publicly, National Bank's board has committed to it in writing, and depositors who have waited months for unrestricted access will be watching whether branches and ATMs actually deliver on day one. Given how many other banks are leaning on similar central bank support, how this plays out at National Bank will likely shape how the regulator handles the next bank in line.