Farm credit disbursement declined by 27.75 pc to Tk30.46b in Dec 2023

Agricultural credit disbursement witnessed a decline in December 2023 compared to that of the same month of 2022, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.
Such credit disbursement showed the decrease due to non-disbursement of agricultural credit by foreign commercial banks (FCBs) and less credit disbursement by Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and some private commercial banks (PCBs) in December last year.
Farm credit disbursement stood at over Tk30.46 billion in December 2023 whereas it was over Tk38.92 billion in December 2022, marking 27.75 per cent decline year on year, as per the central bank data.
Agricultural credit disbursement target has been set at Tk350 billion for FY24 which is 13.60 per cent higher than that in FY23, of which Tk 32.80 billion is for the state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs), Tk 87.50 billion for the state-owned specialised banks (SOSBs), Tk 219.23 billion for the PCBs and Tk10.47 billion for the FCBs.
The agricultural credit disbursement target for FY24 has been established at Tk 350 billion, marking a 13.60 per cent increase compared to FY23.
This allocation includes Tk32.80 billion for the SOCBs, Tk 87.50 billion for the SOSBs, Tk219.23 billion for the PCBs, and Tk10.47 billion for the FCBs.
During the first six months of FY24, scheduled banks disbursed agricultural credit amounting to Tk 183.26 billion, covering 52.36 per cent of the total disbursement target for the fiscal year.
Farm credit disbursement stood at Tk 183.26 billion during July-December of FY24, which was 52.36 per cent of the total disbursement target for FY24 and 9.93 per cent higher than the disbursement of Tk. 166.70 billion for the same period of the last fiscal year, the BB data showed.
Total recovery of agricultural credit was recorded at more than Tk. 177.79 billion during July-December of FY24, which was 8.22 per cent higher than that of the same period of the preceding year.
Outstanding balance (including interest) of agricultural credit stood at over Tk553.95 billion at the end of December 2023, which was 8.62 per cent higher than outstanding of Tk 509.97 billion at the end of December 2022.
Overdue of agricultural credit stood at Tk80.84 billion at the end of December 2023, which was 12.09 per cent higher than overdue at the end of December 2022.
In December 2023, Grameen Bank and ten large NGOs disbursed Tk 174.67 billion as microcredit and recovered Tk169.61 billion. Outstanding balance of microcredit of these organisations stood at Tk 1.15 trillion as of end of December 2023.
Overdue of microcredit of these organisations stood at Tk 51.75 billion (4.47 per cent of outstanding balance) at the end of December 2023, the central bank data showed.
During the period of July-December of FY24, the share of crops sub-sector occupied 45.0 per cent of the total agricultural credit disbursement, followed by live-stock and poultry (25.0 per cent), fisheries (14.0 per cent), others (10.0 per cent) and poverty alleviation (6.0 per cent).
In July-December of FY23, the share of crops sub-sector was also in leading position (48.0 percent), followed by live-stock and poultry (21.0 per cent), fisheries (12.0 per cent), others (13.0 per cent) and poverty alleviation (6.0 per cent), the BB data added.

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