Ansar-VDP Bank seeks Tk 10b in next budget
FE REPORT | Saturday, 7 December 2024
The Ansar-VDP Unnayan Bank has sought a Tk 10-billion allocation in the next national budget for alleviating poverty among its clients as well as their economic development and women empowerment, sources say.
Managing Director of the state-run, specialised non-scheduled bank Mir Mofazzul Hossain recently wrote to the finance ministry in this regard.
Only the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) members are the bank's clients, and most of them live near the poverty line. Over 6.1 million members belong to poor rural communities, and a significant number of them are women, Hossain wrote in the letter.
He said improving the country's overall poverty situation largely depends on the alleviation of poverty among the marginalised Ansar and VDP members.
The banker also mentioned the bank is working on poverty alleviation by providing loans on easy terms for the marginalised Ansar and VDP members. The loans help make them self-reliant, he added.
However, most of the clients remain outside the credit facility due to fund shortages. This is preventing the bank's poverty alleviation measures from producing the desired results. That is why the bank needs financial support to continue its poverty alleviation measures, Hossain explained.
The bank's loans and advances stood at Tk 18.67 billion in FY24, while the amount of deposits was Tk 5.83 billion and paid-up capital was Tk 3.47 billion.