Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh on Wednesday asked eight state-owned commercial banks and financial institutions to intensify drive for recovering the overdue agricultural credit, officials said.
The directive came at a review meeting with the officials of the banks and financial institutions, held in the central bank on the day with General Manager of the Agricultural Credit and Special Program Department of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, M Abdul Haque in the chair.
The BB took the move against the backdrop of a declining trend in recovery of agricultural credit during the first four months of the current fiscal compared with the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
A total of BDT 16.97 billion was recovered in July-October period in fiscal 2008-09 against BDT 17.63 billion of the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
The position of overdue agricultural credit as percentage of total outstanding improved, decreasing from 41.21 per cent at the end of October, 2007 to 36.73 per cent the end of October this year.
The position of outstanding agricultural loan stood at BDT 177.79 billion during the period under review against BDT 156.35 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The central bank of Bangladesh also directed the banks and financial institutions for taking necessary measures to achieve agro-credit disbursement target by the end of this fiscal.
The banks and financial institutions have achieved 26.74 per cent of their annual target, which has been fixed at nearly Tk 94 billion. The amount is 13 per cent higher than the last fiscal, the BB's data showed.
"We've asked the banks and financial institutions to gear up the recovery drive of overdue agro-credit that would also help to disburse fresh loan in the sector," a BB senior official told BBN in Dhaka.
The state-owned banks and financial institutions along with the private commercial banks (PCBs) disbursed BDT 25.076 billion as agriculture credit during the period under review against BDT 18.207 billion of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The banks and financial institutions are: Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB), Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB), Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) and Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Limited (BSBL).
The loans have been given to agro-based eight sub-sectors like cultivation, irrigation equipment, livestock, agricultural products marketing, fisheries and poverty alleviation.
BBN/SI/SSR/AD-27November08-10:48 AM (BST)