A number of banks in the country will likely be unable to pay dividends after the Bangladesh Bank tightened the relevant rules through a notice today.

Under the new rules, banks that have taken a deferral facility from the central bank to maintain provisioning requirements will also be barred from paying dividends from 2024 onwards.

Additionally, banks with non-performing loans (NPLs) exceeding 10 percent of their total loans will not be able to declare dividends to shareholders for 2025.

The BB notice said that lenders will be barred from declaring dividends if a penalty or fine is imposed due to a shortfall in the CRR (Cash reserve ratio) and SLR (Statutory liquidity ratio).

Moreover, cash dividends can only be paid from the profits of the calendar year, but no cash dividends can be distributed from the previous accumulated profits.

Officials of the central bank said many banks will be unable to pay dividends for 2025 because of the stricter rules.

Of the 61 scheduled banks in the country, only 10 to 12 will be able to pay a good dividend, they added.