DOT Desk: Farm credit disbursement grew by more than 11 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, as demand for such loan has been picked up due to seasonal effects, reports the Financial Express.
Disbursement of agriculture loan rose to Tk 83.05 billion in the July-November of FY ’20 from Tk 74.76 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the Bangladesh Bank’s (BB) latest statistics.
Agriculture loan disbursement may increase further in the coming months as the central bank is pursuing bankers continuously for achieving the target of such loan by the end of this fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, according to officials.
As part of the move, the BB is set to meet with both public and private commercial banks this week for reviewing the
latest situation on agriculture loan disbursement and recovery performances. The BB high ups are scheduled to meet with senior officials of private commercial banks (PCBs) at the central bank headquarters in the city on December 24.
On December 30, the central bankers are set to meet with senior officials of eight state-owned banks (SoBs) on same ground, they added.
The SoBs are – Sonali Bank Limited, Janata Bank Limited, Agrani Bank Limited, Rupali Bank Limited, BASIC Bank Limited, Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL), BKB and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB).
At the meetings, the central bank will ask the bankers for taking effective measures to boost farm credit disbursement for achieving their targets by the end of this fiscal.
“We’ll ask the bankers at the meetings to expedite farm credit disbursement to help ensuring food security of the country,” a BB senior official told the FE on Friday over phone.