Farm credit disbursement grows by 24pc in H1

Farm credit disbursement grew by nearly 24 per cent in the first-half (H1) of this fiscal year (FY), 2015-16, following the central bank's continuous persuasion, officials said.

Disbursement of agriculture loan rose to Tk 87.56 billion during the July-December period of FY 16, from Tk 70.71 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank's latest statistics.

Of Tk 87.56 billion, the eight state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) disbursed Tk 46.56 billion, and the remaining Tk 40.99 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and the foreign commercial banks (FCBs).

All scheduled banks have achieved more than 53 per cent of their annual agricultural loan disbursement target, fixed at Tk 164 billion, for FY 16.

However, four FCBs, out of nine, are yet to disburse any farm loan in the first six months of the current fiscal year, according to the central bank report.

"We've already instructed the FCBs to explain their position in this connection," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Monday.

He also said the FCBs will have to achieve their respective agricultural loan disbursement targets by the end of this fiscal.

"We'll not allow any negligence in disbursement of agriculture loans," the central banker added.

He hoped that the existing upward trend in agriculture loan disbursement will continue until February due to seasonal effect.

Talking to the FE, another BB official said all the scheduled banks have been asked to boost their loan disbursement and recovery drives across the country.

"We're continuously working to achieve farm credit disbursement target by the end of FY 16," the BB official noted.

As part of the move, the central bank is scheduled to sit with senior officials of the eight SoCBs on January 31 to review their overall performance in farm credit disbursement and recovery. "We'll review performances of the PCBs and the FCBs in February," he further said.

The amount of farm loan recovery also rose to Tk 84.21 billion in H1 of FY 16, from Tk 78.64 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.

The central banker also said the BB has already strengthened its monitoring and supervision to ensure the credit for each of the interested farmers across the country without any harassment.

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