Bangladesh Krishi Bank

Bangladesh Krishi Bank faces severe financial instability with a capital shortfall of BDT 292.07 billion and high volumes of classified defaulted loans.

BKB was established in 1973 under President's Order No. 27 of 1973 as successor to the former Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (est. 1961). It operates 1,029 branches across 48 districts; all branches are online as of latest BKB announcement. Chairman Dr Mohammad Zahid Hossain (former ADB Principal Economist, South Asia) joined October 20, 2024, appointed by the interim government following its August 2024 cancellation of previous board appointments. Managing Director Sanchia Binte Ali (former Sonali Bank DMD) is confirmed active in 2025 and early 2026 through multiple press reports; her exact appointment date was not recoverable from primary sources and head_since is set null rather than guessed. Staff count: not verifiable from 2024-25 primary sources; Banglapedia historical figure and banksbd.org directory counts are unreliable proxies and omitted. Capital shortfall trajectory: Tk 18,188 crore (end-2024) per Dhaka Tribune aggregate data; Tk 29,161 crore (June 2025) per Dhaka Tribune; Tk 29,804 crore (September 2025) per TBS — these are BB-reported figures and represent the largest individual-bank shortfall in Bangladesh as of Q3 2025. NPL figure: Tk 4,329 crore (June 2024) and Tk 17,538 crore (June 2025) sourced from Dhaka Tribune/TBS citing BB data; the four-fold surge reflects both reclassification under tightened March 2025 BB norms (default trigger reduced from 9 to 3 months) and unmasking of previously concealed defaults. Zero-coupon bond: Tk 10,318 crore at 4% yield, 10-year maturity, 10 equal redemption tranches; this was a BKB proposal — approval status not confirmed in sources reviewed. Farmer's Card: the April 2026 pre-pilot (22,065 farmers, 10 districts, Pahela Baishakh launch) is implemented through Sonali Bank PLC with Visa as technology partner; BKB is not a named disbursal partner in the pre-pilot phase — this is a key finding that contradicts common assumption. Remittance: BKB ranked 4th in FY2024-25 (Remittance Award-2025) and 2nd at NRB World Conference Series 2026 with $3.13 billion collected in 2025. BKB has been loss-making for over 30 years due to structural mandate (lend below market rate, borrow at deposit rate, carry high agri-sector NPLs). The bank's FY26 CMSME shortfall (18.91% of target as of November 2025) disqualifies it from BB incentive financing under that window.