Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Upward trend in the disbursement of private sector credit continued in the month of February despite policy interest rates raised by the central bank, officials said on Sunday.
Credit flow to the private sector recorded a growth of 28.34 percent to BDT 702.79 billion in February this year on a year-on-year basis compared to 28.06 percent or BDT 690.61 billion over that of the previous month, according to the central bank statistics.
The credit flow to the private sector increased during the period under review following rise in financing to small and medium enterprises (SME), agriculture and trade sectors, they added.
“Higher import growth with upward trend in prices of essential items including petroleum products and food grains in the global market has pushed up the overall credit flow to the private sector,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said.
The overall private sector credit growth has pushed partially the country’s inflation rate up measured by the consumer price index recently although the BB as well as the government have taken different measures to curb the inflation, the central bankers and experts said.
“The central bank has taken a number of measures to contain inflationary pressures on the economy but it will take more time to get positive outcome,” the BB official noted.
BBN/SSR/AD-17Apr11-2:01 pm (BST)
