BB governor warns on failure to support woman entrepreneurs

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FE Report
Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed warned Sunday that the scorecards of banks would be affected if they failed to support woman entrepreneurs.
"The central bank has earmarked Tk 1.05 billion for woman entrepreneurs under a refinancing scheme at 10 per cent interest rate, but so far only 15 financial institutions (FIs) have disbursed only Tk 73 million, which is not acceptable," he said at the launching ceremony of Women's National Business Agenda organised by Bangladesh Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) in the city.
The banks are supposed to lend at 10 per cent to the business women under the scheme and Bangladesh Bank will refinance the whole amount to the banks at 5 per cent.
"The five per cent margin is enough to cover the management expenses and profit," Dr Salehuddin said.
The scorecards of the banks as per CAMELS rating would be affected if they failed to comply with the Bangladesh Bank directive to give loans to woman entrepreneurs, he cautioned.
The elaboration of CAMELS is capital, asset, management, earning, liquidity and sensitivity.
The central bank would seek information on how much the banks could lend to woman entrepreneurs, he said.
"Monitoring and compliance are needed in this case as the financial institutions are not paying heed to the central bank's directive," he lamented.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said women should get loans free of collateral and in this regard Karmasangsthan Bank could play an effective role.
"We are trying to strengthen the bank and make its service affordable to everybody," he said.
There should be a campaign to remove the barriers facing the woman entrepreneurs in setting up and running their businesses, he said.
Home Minister Sahara Khatun said the woman business community was facing problems and they should face those unitedly.
BWCCI President Selima Ahmad said less than 10 per cent of the entrepreneurs were women, whereas in developed countries they accounted for 25 per cent.
The Women's National Business Agenda (WNBA) was aimed at influencing public policy reform to help the woman community, she said.
"We discussed with 1,500 woman entrepreneurs and identified several problems," she said.
The chamber has identified about 20 problems that the business women face and 40 prospective areas where they can work.
Three of the areas are social barriers, weak capacity and lack of financing.