Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The amount of classified loans in the agriculture sector jumped by nearly 23 per cent in nine months to March because of lower recovery mainly due to political unrest in early this year, officials said.
The non-performing loans (NPLs) of farmers rose to BDT 70.74 billion during the July-March period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 from BDT 66.63 billion in the same period last year, according to the latest statistics from the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The share of NPLs in the total outstanding loans of the agriculture sector rose to 23.12 per cent in the July-March period of the FY 15 from 20.52 per cent in the corresponding period of the FY 14.
Total outstanding loans in the agriculture sector stood at Tk 305.99 billion during the period under review, the BB data showed.
Talking to BBN, a BB senior official said the central bank is working to reduce the volume of classified loans in the agriculture sector through expediting recovery drive across the country.
He also said recently introduced rescheduled policy on short-term agriculture loans would contribute to decrease the volume of NPLs in the sector.
Earlier on February 23 last, the central bank issued a fresh rescheduled policy on short-term agriculture loans aiming to boost production through facilitating farmers across the country.
Under the policy, the banks are allowed to reschedule such agriculture loans under ‘banker-client’ relationship through relaxation of down payment. In some cases, such loans can be rescheduled even without any down payment.
Such rescheduled facility will continue until December, 2015.