Dhaka, June 8 -- Formal credit growth in the private sector remains almost static, reaching 4.75 per cent in April, signalling a deep slowdown in the country's business activities.

The low trend in credit demand from private enterprises is attributed to banks becoming more cautious amid rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and private borrowers losing their credit appetite due to multiple anti-business factors, including the energy crisis, higher lending costs, and external shocks stemming from the Middle East crisis.

The Bangladesh Bank's (BB) private sector credit growth data, available since 2003, shows April growth was the second-lowest after the previous month's count of 4.72 per cent.

According to the BB, outstanding loans taken by...