Tk 164b rural credits to be disbursed this fiscal

Some Tk 164 billion will flow into the countryside this fiscal year under a new agricultural and rural credit policy and programme announced Monday.
The central bank unveiled the lending recipe with an around 5.5 per cent growth in the loan flow over that of the previous fiscal.
"The banks will have to take necessary initiatives for achieving the agricultural loan-disbursement target by ensuring proper use of such loan through strengthening their monitoring across the country," Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said while announcing the policy at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka.
He sounded a note of caution: if any bank fails to achieve the target, it (the bank) will have to deposit the funds with the central bank to the unachievable part of the target.
The central bank will not provide any interest for the deposit, he said.
The governor sought cooperation from the chief executive officers (CEOs) and managing directors (MDs) of the commercial banks in expediting the ongoing 'financial inclusion' programmes alongside development of the agriculture sector for achieving sustainable economic growth.
Of the total target, Tk 28.90 billion will be disbursed by six state-owned commercial banks during the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 while two specialised development banks will lend Tk 64 billion to the interested farmers.
Besides, 38 private commercial banks will lend Tk 67.17 billion while nine foreign commercial banks disburse Tk 3.93 billion, according to the new farm-credit policy.  
Meanwhile, the disbursement of farm credits crossed the target in the FY 15 as the central bank has strengthened its monitoring and supervision of the lenders.
All banks have achieved nearly 103 per cent or Tk 159.78 billion of their annual agriculture loan-disbursement target, which has been fixed at Tk 155.50 billion in total for the FY 15, the BB data showed.
BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury advised the banks to take necessary measures to develop marketing channel for ensuring fair prices of farm produce.
He also said the banks must disburse the agriculture loans within the shortest possible time without any hassle to farmers.
Among others, CEOs and MDs of Sonali Bank Limited Pradip Kumar Dutta, BRAC Bank Limited Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Trust Bank Limited Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury, IFIC Bank Limited Shah A Sarwar and Dhaka Bank Limited Niaz Habib also spoke on the occasion.
siddique.islam@gmail.com