Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Private sector credit growth increased slightly in February 2015 over the previous month despite political uncertainty, officials said on Tuesday.
According to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) latest statistics, the growth in private sector credit flow rose to 13.61 per cent in February from 13.33 per cent in January. It was 13.50 per cent in December 2014.
The BB officials expected that the rising trend of private sector credit growth will continue in the coming months, if the political stability continues.
The total outstanding loans with the private sector rose to BDT 5455.34 billion in February 2015 from BDT 4801.76 billion in the same month of the previous calendar year, the BB data showed.
The central bank earlier set the ceiling for private sector credit growth at 15.5 per cent for the January-June period of current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
“We’re ready to raise the ceiling of private sector credit growth in line with requirement,” BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman told reporters while announcing the Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the second half (H2) of this fiscal on January 29.
Talking to BBN, a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said the private sector credit growth increased slightly in February because of higher import of capital machinery, particularly of garment as well as power and energy sectors.
He also said the demand for fresh credit is still in an unsatisfactory level, as most businessmen are maintaining a 'go-slow' policy to avoid financial risk.
BBN/SSR/AD-07Apr15-11:02 pm (BST)