ET Report
The Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday announced its farm loan policy with a target to disburse Tk 12,617.40 crore to the agriculture sector in the current financial year.
Of the amount, state-owned specialised banks will disburse Tk 5,640 crore, public commercial banks Tk 2,575 crore, private bank Tk 3,048.65 crore, foreign banks in Bangladesh Tk 582.75 crore and Bangladesh Rural Development Board and Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Limited Tk 771 crore, said the central bank governor Atiur Rahman, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
Addressing a press conference, Atiur announced the agriculture loan target, which is approximately 9.6 per cent higher than previous fiscal (2009-10), United New of Bangladesh adds.
This is the second time the BB announced a farm credit policy. It allocated Tk 11,500 crore for agriculture sector last year and disbursed Tk 11,117 crore.
The progress in recovery during the year was also significantly higher by Tk 1,007 crore and the twofold success gives the central bank an extra edge in increasing loans for farmers, adds Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
'The farmers and their children have been contributing a lot to the economic development of the country,' Atiur said while announcing the credit policy at his office.
Besides increased allocation, the policy offers farmers some new facilities and services, which will make access to loans easier than ever before.
BB allows farmers open bank accounts with a deposit as low as Tk 10. Around 88 lakh farmers so far opened accounts across the country.
The governor said all the banks would disburse the loan directly to these accounts, which would ensure transparency in the lending process and make it hassle-free.
The credit policy removes the processing fee for crop lending, which Atiur reckoned would have a positive impact on the commodity market in the long run.
'Access to easy loan for crop production will help stabilise commodity prices on the market, especially during occasional increase in demands like in Ramadan,' said Atiur.
As the jute sector is rebounding, the new farm policy also addresses the sector for helping restore the glory of the forgotten golden fibre.
Like last year, the core areas of the policy are crop, fisheries and livestock, but it has also targeted some non- traditional farming those are considered as value crops or alternative crops.
Last year, the growth in the agriculture sector went marginally down to 4.26 per cent when drought cut crop yield in some parts of the country.
Considering this potential risk, Atiur said the new policy would help farmers build up a safety net by supporting high value crop productions in the areas where traditional farming is vulnerable to whether conditions.