MoF weighing BSEC proposal on softening terms

The proposal for relaxation of some conditions attached to loans from the capital market re-financing scheme is now under consideration of the ministry of finance (MoF), officials have said.
The officials at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) have said they have sent the proposal to Finance Minister AMA Muhith through a DO (demi official) letter.
"We have sent the proposal to the finance minister as per our previous bilateral discussion. We hope a positive result will come soon for the sake of disbursement of funds from the capital market re-financing scheme," said a senior BSEC official.
The BSEC in a meeting with the finance minister earlier on March 31 urged him to relax the conditions.
According to the BSEC officials, the finance minister was very "positive" about relaxation of the conditions and asked the securities regulator to submit the proposal.
The securities regulator's latest move came following the obstacles to disbursement of funds worth Tk 3.0 billion from the Tk 9.0 billion scheme, as merchant banks and brokerage firms were unwilling to take loans from it due to the tough conditions.
The merchant banks and brokerage firms were reluctant to apply for loans from the scheme for disbursement among affected small investors because of the tough conditions.
The conditions include submission of reports from the Credit Information Bureau (CIB) of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), corporate guarantee and personal guarantee of directors of the borrowing agencies.
The borrowers are unwilling to seize the loan facility mainly due to the condition that requires personal guarantee of their directors.
However, the BSEC has extended the time up to April 30 for the fifth time for submission of applications by affected small investors seeking loans from the refinancing scheme.