Bangladesh

Despite Bangladesh Bank efforts in bringing out business from default culture, the uptrend in classified loans continue for the consecutive third quarter in September, the Dhaka Tribune reported. It rose to 11.6% in July-September quarter from 10.75% in the previous quarter, according to Bangladesh Bank data. The rate had dropped to 8.93% in December last from 12.79% in the previous quarter, thanks to huge loan rescheduling taking advantage of a relaxed policy.

BASIC Bank's default loans continue to escalate in the face of irregularities, despite Bangladesh Bank's efforts to keep it in check, The Daily Star reported. By the end of June, it is forecast to hit Tk 1,700 crore, up 13 percent from March 30, according to a finance ministry report placed in parliament on Thursday. The figure is 13.45 percent of the state-run scheduled bank's total outstanding loans, and a central bank official tipped the actual figures to be much higher as the bank showed a huge amount of bad loans to be non-classified.

As the global slowdown weakens demand for China's exports, bankruptcies and joblessness are spreading throughout southern China, a main manufacturing zone, the Wall Street Journal reported today. China's customs agency recently reported that half of China's toy exporters that it tracks--some 3,600 companies--were driven out of the market in the first seven months of this year. A majority of those were in and around Dongguan, often called the toy-making capital of the world. Higher prices for energy and raw materials have driven up costs.