Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– Agriculture loan disbursement decreased by nearly 6.0 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, officials said.
The central bank of Bangladesh has already asked the banks for taking necessary measures to expedite both disbursement and recovery of the agriculture credit across the country.
Disbursement of agriculture loan came down to BDT 38.83 billion in the July-October period of the FY 15 from BDT 41.22 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics.
Of BDT 38.83 billion, six state-owned banks disbursed BDT 21.50 billion, and the remaining BDT 17.32 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs).
“The central bank expects that the disbursement of agriculture loan will increase in the coming months to meet the growing demand for farmers,” a BB senior official told BBN in Dhaka.
The central bankers also said the BB has already strengthened its monitoring and supervision to ensure the credit facilities for each interested farmers without any harassment.
All scheduled banks have achieved nearly 25 per cent of their annual agricultural loan disbursement target for FY 15, fixed at BDT 155.50 billion, the BB data showed.
“The BB has already taken different initiatives to achieve the target by the end of this fiscal year through boosting disbursement of the agriculture loan,” the central banker noted.
He also said the central bank will not allow any negligence of the commercial banks in disbursement of agriculture loans.
BBN/SSR/AD-28Nov14-6:27 pm (BST)
