Dhaka: The per capita external debt burden in the country stood at Tk 13,160 on 30 June last, said Finance and Planning State Minister MA Mannan.

MA Mannan disclosed the information in Parliament on behalf of Finance Minister AMA Muhith replying a starred question from Independent MP Nurjahan Begum (Women Seat-42) on Thursday.

‘Bangladesh had the gross external debt of $25,908 or Tk 2,07,265 crore on 30 June, 2015. Per capita debt was Tk $169 or Tk 13, 160,’ he said.

Bangladesh paid $182.43 million or Tk 1419 crore as interests against the foreign loans in the 2014-‘15 fiscal, he said replying to a question from ruling Awami League MP M Abdul Latif (Chittagong-11).

In reply to another question from AL MP Waseqa Ayesha Khan (Women Seat-31), the Finance Minister said the total number of loan defaulters was some 1.78 lakh in the country in June last according to Bangladesh Credit Information Bureau.

He said different steps have been taken to realize the defaulted loans and dispose of the cases regarding the loan default.

Responding to a question from AL MP Suhrab Uddin (Kishoreganj-2), Muhith said Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd earned the highest profit of Tk 1621.21 crore in 2014 while Basic Bank Ltd incurred the biggest amount of loss of Tk 110.79 crore.

Besides, Bangladesh Krishi Bank incurred loss of Tk 185.61 crore while National Bank of Pakistan 99.66 crore and ICB Islami Bank TK 21.56 crore, he noted.

Answering a scripted question from AL MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bhola-3), Muhith said the foreign exchange reserve was $5349.17 million in 2009 but the reserve stood at $26167.75 million on August 24, 2015, which is the highest in history.

In reply to a question from Independent MP Rustom Ali Faraji (Pirojpur-3), the Finance Minister said the transaction amount through mobile banking was some Tk 1,28,771 crore in the last fiscal year while it was Tk 13,811 crore in July, the first month of the current fiscal.