Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided a soft loan worth BDT 4.15 billion to create a medium-and-long term financing market for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), officials said.
The central bank of Bangladesh has already started disbursement of the fund through the commercial banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) under a fresh refinance scheme to develop the SMEs across the country.
Twenty-one commercial banks and 18 NBFIs have already signed deals with the Bangladesh Bank (BB) as participatory financial institutions (PFIs) for disbursement of the refinancing fund, they added.
“The project has already started its function and is moving forward successfully,” General Manager of the SME and Special Programmes Department at BB Sukamal Singha Choudhury told BBN in Dhaka, adding that it will help create a middle-and-long-term financing source for the SMEs 
 
BBN/SSR/AD-16Nov12-5:40 pm (BST)