While the people of lower and middle-income groups are grappling with high inflation and other economic crises, data shows that the number of bank accounts with deposits of Tk 1 crore or more has shot up.

According to the Bangladesh Bank data. the number of accounts holding Tk1 crore or more increased by 7,066 in one year in the country.

At the end of September this year, the number stood at 1,13,586, up from 1,06,520 during the same period one year ago.

On the other hand, the economy is facing an investment drought and disruption in export-import trade due to instability in the currency market.

In September 2023, the total deposits in banks amounted to more than Tk 17.13 lakh crore, with around Tk7.26 lakh crore of the deposits are held in crore-taka accounts. Currently, such accounts own 42.35% of total deposits in the country’s banking sector, the central bank data suggests.

Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, “The number of millionaire depositors in the country is increasing due to inequality in the society. Economic development has become limited to a single group.”

“Currently, the inflation rate is on the rise. Due to the slowdown in income, people are struggling with the rising cost of living. But the income of a section of people has gone up, which indicates financial development remains confined to a group only,” he added.

Former Caretaker Government Advisor AB Mirza Azizul Islam said, “The increase in the number of crore-taka depositors means that inequality is rising in the society. This is economic inequality, which is why the number of crore-taka depositors is on the rise.”

The central bank officials said that an account of crore-taka does not mean an account of a millionaire person because there are many institutional accounts apart from individuals’ accounts.

There is no specific limit about how many bank accounts an individual and an organisation can open. As a result, one organisation or an individual has multiple accounts.  The accounts with Tk1 crore or more do not belong only to the people. Many institutions can also own some of them, Bangladesh Bank officials said.

How much deposit in which account?

According to Bangladesh Bank data, at the end of September, the account holding deposits from Tk1-5 crore stood at 89,760.  The total deposit in these accounts stood at more than Tk1.87 lakh crore.

The number of accounts holding Tk50 crore or above totalled 1,778 with  deposits reaching Tk2.49 lakh crore.

There are 12,211 accounts holding deposits between Tk 5-10 crore and the amount of deposits in these accounts totalled Tk 8,631,297 lakh. The amount of deposits in 4,074 accounts between Tk10-15 crores is Tk 4,908,778 lakh.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), after the country’s independence, the number of crore-taka accounts increased from 5 in 1972 to 47 in 1975.

In 1980, the number of such account holders reached 98 and then in 1990, it grew to 943.

By 1996, the number increased to  2,594 and then in five years, in 2001, the number rose to 5,162, Bangladesh Bank data showed.

The number of crore-take accounts continued to grow faster in the years that followed.  It surged to 8,887 in 2006 and 19,163 in 2008.

At the end of December 2020, the number increased to 93,890 and exceeded 1 lakh mark in December 2021, reaching 1,01,976.