ICB at 50: State investment bank charts recovery plan to tackle crisis

The roadmap is expected to be unveiled at a golden jubilee event today, which Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, senior government officials and capital market regulators are scheduled to attend.

The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), once a pillar of industrial financing and a pioneer of the country’s mutual fund industry, is preparing a multi-phase recovery plan to overcome its mounting debt and financial losses.

The state-owned investment bank, which marks its 50th anniversary today, has drafted short-, medium- and long-term measures aimed at easing its liquidity pressure, restructuring debt and rebuilding its financial strength.

The roadmap is expected to be unveiled at a golden jubilee event today, which Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, senior government officials and capital market regulators are scheduled to attend.

ICB, once a profitable institution and contributor to the government exchequer, has turned loss-making amid prolonged capital market volatility. Falling capital gains and dividend income, coupled with rising debt-servicing costs, have sharply weakened its finances.

Its accumulated loss stood at Tk1,608 crore as of March 2026, including a record loss of Tk1,213 crore in FY25 and a further Tk588 crore loss in the first nine months of FY26, according to its financial statements.

A senior ICB official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the corporation had repeatedly borrowed from state-owned banks to invest in the capital market and help stabilise it at the direction of the government and regulators.

“This has eventually pushed ICB into a debt trap, with mounting interest costs coming at a time when market volatility has eroded capital gains, dividend income and overall revenue,” the official told The Business Standard.

ICB’s bank borrowing has increased nearly sixfold since FY11. Its outstanding loans reached around Tk14,000 crore in December 2025, up from Tk2,341 crore in FY11.

Annual interest payments have risen nearly fivefold over the same period to Tk1,101 crore from Tk185 crore.

The corporation’s portfolio has also suffered a major erosion in value. Its unrealised loss stood at around Tk5,507 crore in December, leaving the portfolio valued at about Tk8,600 crore.

Recovery roadmap

Under the short-term plan, ICB will seek Tk10,000 crore in low-cost funding to ease liquidity pressure, reduce interest expenses and strengthen its balance sheet.

Of the proposed funds, Tk7,000 crore would be used to repay high-cost loans, while Tk3,000 crore would be invested in the secondary market to generate trading income.

ICB has already received Tk4,000 crore in low-cost government funding, part of which has been used to repay existing loans and invest in the market.

The medium-term plan focuses on repairing the balance sheet by converting liabilities into equity and introducing new capital market instruments.

ICB plans to convert outstanding institutional debt owed to state-owned banks and financial institutions into equity stakes, thereby reducing immediate repayment obligations. It also plans to issue fixed-yield preference shares to institutional lenders to convert short-term debt into longer-term capital.

In the long term, ICB plans to diversify its revenue sources, modernise its operations and infrastructure, and broaden its range of investment products to build a more sustainable business model.

The recovery plan comes as ICB continues to grapple with steep operational losses and a balance sheet weakened by high-cost borrowing and prolonged weakness in the capital market.

Source: The Business Standard