KARACHI: The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has said that government of Bangladesh has not hindered its operations in Bangladesh, and the suggestion of non-cooperation by Dhaka or their courts in the news report titled `BD protecting Rs18.5bn NBP loan defaulters` was not correct.

In a statement on Wednesday, the bank said the chairman and the president met the governor Bangladesh Bank in July 2015 and explained in great length the steps NBP was taking to revive BD operations. The governor BD Bank was very supportive of the steps being taken by NBP which included filing cases against defaulting customers and cases against NBP Bangladesh employees.

NBP hoped that with the support of central bank, the process of recovery of bad loans would accelerate and the bank would recover 30-35 per cent in next 3-5 years.

It also denied that any `bailout` was given to it by the federal government, and said the bank had to invest $65 million as capital due to losses and bought the $65m from the inter-bank market after seeking permission from the SBP.