Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Farm credit disbursement grew by more than 12 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, as the central bank is persuading the banks continuously to increase lending to farmers, officials said on Wednesday.
All scheduled banks disbursed BDT 114.46 billion in the July-March period of FY 14, compared to BDT 102 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
Of BDT 114.46 billion, six state-owned banks disbursed BDT 72.21 billion, and the remaining BDT 42.24 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs).
The banks have achieved more than 78.42 percent of their annual agricultural loan disbursement target for FY 14, fixed at BDT 145.95 billion.
“The central bank is still working to achieve the farm credit disbursement target by the end of this fiscal,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN, adding that the central bank has already taken various steps target through strengthening disbursement of the farm credit across the country.
As part of the initiatives, the BB will sit with executives of the commercial banks by the end of this month to review the overall farm credit situation. “We may ask the bankers to expedite their recovery drives along with the disbursement at meeting.”
On the other hand, the recovery of farm loans rose to BDT 206.70 billion in the first nine months of FY 14, from BDT 159.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
BBN/SSR/AD-23Apr14-12:24 pm (BST)
