The total number of accounts in the banks of the country is around 15 crore and 50 lakh. However, only 1 lakh 16 thousand and 908 account holders are the owners of half of the amount exists in the banks accounts. Hence, the ownership of half of the money deposited in the banks belongs to the millionaires (person having Tk of crore).

The above information is revealed from the updated report of central bank. According to the analysts, people with low chance of income are suffering much and the low income people are spending their income rather than making savings due to high inflation.

According to the information of the Central Bank, at the end of December last year, the number of bank accounts with money of Tk 1 crore or more was 1 crore 16 lakh 908. In September 2023 there were 1 crore 13 lakh 586 millionaire accounts. Crorepati or millionaires accounts were increased by 3, 322 in a span of three months. There are 92, 516 deposit accounts with Tk 1 to 5 crore, 12, 652 accounts with Tk 5 to 10 crore. The number of bank accounts with Tk 20 to 25 crores is 1, 345. And the number of accounts depositing more than Tk 50 crore is 1, 812. 2 lakh 53 thousand 7 crores are deposited in these 1, 812 bank accounts, which is like 14 and a half percent of the total deposits of the banking sector. On the contrary, the number of bank accounts with deposits less than Tk 5 thousand is 11 crore 16 lakh 69 thousand and 556. The number of accounts with Tk 5 to 10 thousand is 51 lakh 5 thousand and 731. Even three months ago, the number of these accounts was around 51 lakh. Tk 10 to 25 thousand are deposited in 12 lakh 18 thousand 645 accounts.

In this regard, Dhaka School of Economics President Kazi Khalikuzzaman Ahmad said, “Those who have less income opportunities are suffering much. Their income is going down a lot. As the inflation rate is high, the savings that were there are being depleted and using on covering daily expenses. What happens in such a situation is normal.”

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, after independence, there were five millionaire (Tk of crore) depositors in the country in 1972, which increased to 47 in 1975. In 1980, the number of millionaire accounts was 98, then 943 in 1990, 2, 594 in 1996, 5, 162 in 2001, 8, 887 in 2006 and 19, 163 in 2008. At the end of December in 2020, it stood at 93, 890. In December 2021, millionaire accounts increased to 1 lakh 1 thousand 976. As of December 2022, the number of accounts worth crores of Tk was 1 lakh 9 thousand 946. The exact number of real millionaires in the country is not available. As a result, the exact statistics of how many people have Tk of crores don’t come out. However, an idea can be obtained from the number of Tk of crores in the banks. The number of bank accounts with Tk of crores has increased rapidly since the Covid-19 pandemic.

(The report was published on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on March 18 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque Khan) ​​