Farm credit disbursement grew by more than 5.0 per cent in the first-half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, as demand for such loan has been picked up due to seasonal effects.
Disbursement of agriculture loan rose to Tk 108.00 billion in the July-December of FY '20 from Tk 102.31 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the Bangladesh Bank's (BB) latest statistics.
"We're working continuously to achieve the agriculture loan disbursement target by the end of this fiscal," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Monday.
As part of the move, the BB is set to meet with senior officials of eight public banks on January 28 for reviewing the latest situation on agriculture loan disbursement and recovery performances, according to the central banker.
The state-owned banks (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 review meeting, the central bank will ask the public banks for taking effective measures to boost farm credit disbursement for achieving their targets by the end of this fiscal.
"We'll also ask the SoBs to ensure the quality of credit applying their due diligence properly to avoid possible risk," the central bank said while replying to a query.
The BB official also expects that the disbursement of farm loan expedite significantly in the coming months mainly due to seasonal effects.
Of the Tk 108.00 billion, eight SoBs disbursed Tk 54.29 billion, and the remaining Tk 53.72 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs).
Meanwhile, all scheduled banks have achieved 44.77 per cent of their FY '20 agricultural loan disbursement target, fixed at Tk 241.24 billion.
On the other hand, the recovery of farm loans, however, rose to Tk 115.00 billion during the period under review from Tk 113.93 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.
Talking to the FE, Md. Ali Hossain Prodhania, managing director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB), said the disbursement of agriculture loan will be increased in the second-half (H2) than H1 of the FY '20.
"Annual target of farm credit disbursement will be achieved finally," the senior banker explained.
He also said the BKB is providing the agriculture loan giving priority fresh borrowers aiming to bring more unbanked people in the banking system.
"It will help reducing poverty along with implementation of the sustainable development goals," Mr. Prodhania said while explaining main objective of the BKB's strategies.
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