Sammilito Islami Bank reports withdrawals of Tk 1.07bn in first two days

The largest withdrawals come from Exim Bank, amounting to Tk 660 million

In the first two days of operations at the newly-formed Sammilito Islami Bank -- a merger of five Shariah-based banks -- depositors have withdrawn Tk 1.07 billion, while deposits totalled Tk 440 million.

As many as 13,314 customers made withdrawals, with the largest amount, Tk 660 million, coming from Exim Bank, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur told reporters on Monday afternoon.

“The fact that deposits are also coming in alongside withdrawals proves that the money here is completely safe.

Customers have nothing to worry about, and I see no reason for concern going forward,” Mansur said.

He noted that 6,265 customers took out funds from Exim Bank alone, which also logged the highest volume of deposits among the merged entities, amounting to Tk 242.6 million.

Since opening for transactions on the first day of the year, the merged bank’s initial two-day deposits reached Tk 440.9 million.

After Exim Bank, the largest deposits were at Union Bank with Tk 152.4 million, followed by SIBL with Tk 34.9 million, First Security Islami Bank with Tk 4.8 million, and Global Islami Bank with Tk 6.2 million.

Mansur added that a forensic audit will be conducted soon to trace how funds were withdrawn from the five banks before the merger and to hold those responsible accountable under the law.

Governor said authorities will soon conduct a forensic audit to trace pre-merger withdrawals and identify those responsible.