Seven-member probe panel formed over BPC's Tk 4,813 crore stuck in weak banks

A storm has broken out over the keeping of more than Tk 4,813 crore in fixed deposits (FDRs) of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and its subsidiaries in financially distressed and weak private banks.

BPC has formed a seven-member high-level inquiry committee to examine the protection of this huge public-interest fund, the irregularities involved and possible commission trading.

The committee was formed on 3 November under an office order signed by BPC Secretary Shahina Sultana.

BPC Director (Finance) Nazneen Parveen has been made convener of the committee and Manager (Accounts/Fund) Md Al-Amin its member secretary. The committee has been asked to submit a detailed report to the BPC chairman within one month.

Analysts say BPC always holds a significant amount of cash or funds to run a highly sensitive sector of national need such as fuel oil imports. The funds are kept as fixed deposits in various state-owned and private banks.

But after governance in the banking sector was disrupted in the past and many banks fell into a liquidity crisis, questions have been raised about how thousands of crores of taka belonging to a state institution ended up in such risky banks.

The committee will mainly work on a few specific and sensitive issues. First, it will identify the process, on whose recommendation and on what business or financial criteria this huge sum was kept in the distressed banks.

Second, it will look deeply into whether any official, lured by the banks' unusually high interest offers, became involved in personal benefit, bribery or unethical commission trading.

Third, it will recommend a realistic and effective strategy to safely recover the Tk 4,813.32 crore now stuck in FDRs in various fragile banks.

Fourth, it will prepare a strong and modern policy or framework for safeguarding the fixed deposits of BPC and its subsidiaries in future, based on the banks' real financial health, cash flow and long-term reliability.

The funds of state-owned or statutory corporations are essentially symbols of public interest. Investing such funds in risky institutions for the interest of a particular quarter or for personal interest amounts to a crime or extreme irresponsibility.

BPC's inquiry is not limited to determining past irregularities or liability; it is an important turning point for the financial discipline of the country's entire energy sector. The safe recovery of the stuck Tk 4,813 crore and strict monitoring to prevent any recurrence are now the biggest demands.