Farm credit disbursement rises 12pc in 9 months of FY \\\'14

Farm credit disbursement grew by more than 12 per cent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, as the central bank is persuading the banks continuously to increase lending to farmers.

All scheduled banks disbursed Tk 114.46 billion in the July-March period of FY 14, compared to Tk 102 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.

Of Tk 114.46 billion, six state-owned banks disbursed Tk 72.21 billion, and the remaining Tk 42.24 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs).

The banks have achieved more than 78.42 per cent of their annual agricultural loan disbursement target for FY 14, fixed at Tk 145.95 billion.

"We're still working to achieve the farm credit disbursement target by the end of this fiscal," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Monday.

He also said the central bank had already taken various steps to achive the target through strengthening disbursement of the farm credit across the country.

As part of the initiatives, the central bank will sit with executives of the commercial banks by the end of this month to review the overall farm credit situation.

"We'll ask the bankers to expedite their recovery drives along with the disbursement at a meeting," the BB official noted.

The recovery of farm loans rose to Tk 206.70 billion in the first nine months of FY 14, from Tk 159.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.