The impact of the Covid pandemic on Eastern Bank Limited

Abstract

Eastern Bank Limited, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is a private commercial bank. It was established on August 8, 1992, under the Bank Companies Act of 1991, as a public limited company with limited liability. The influence of the Covid epidemic on EBL is discussed in this paper. Banks all across the world are experiencing a financial crisis as a result of the global epidemic. Eastern Bank Limited, like similar banks, is trying to stay afloat. Then followed the second wave, which prompted the administration to declare a severe lockdown in response. During the lockdown, Bangladesh Bank has curtailed customer service hours and declared numerous branches to be closed. As a result of this circumstance, the majority of consumers are unable to repay their loans, and bad loans are on the rise. Customers are switching from EBL to other banks such as BRAC Bank because they provide lower interest rates on loans. Customers are more likely than ever to accept pay orders and loans, as the bulk of the population has lost their source of income and many of those who still have jobs have seen their earnings lowered. People are breaking their FDRs and Shanchayapatra in order to deal with the financial crisis, this has impacted the financial performance of EBL badly resulting in negative cash flows. EBL has reportedly, sacked a significant portion of their employees and moved their major branches like the Dhanmondi branch from a large space to a smaller one. This alone says that EBL is struggling and is trying to cut expenses in order to combat financial issues. EBL should focus on grabbing the market now. They are falling behind in the rat race. They need to assess the market better and pick up the pace with its competitors.