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Farm credit disbursement grows by more than 16pc during first half of current FY

FE Report | January 22, 2014 00:00:00


Farm credit disbursement grew by more than 16 per cent during the first half of the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, despite the political uncertainty.

All scheduled banks disbursed Tk 74.50 billion in the July-December period of FY 14, compared to Tk 64.20 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics, released Tuesday.

Of Tk 74.50 billion, six state-owned banks disbursed Tk 49.42 billion, and the remaining Tk 25.08 billion was disbursed by the private commercial banks (PCBs) and foreign commercial banks (FCBs).

The banks have achieved more than 51 per cent of their annual agricultural loan disbursement target for FY 14, fixed at Tk 145.95 billion.

 "We've advised the banks to expedite disbursement of their farm credit to meet the growing demand for fresh fund of farmers across the country during the ongoing cropping season," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE.

He also said the central bank has already strengthened its monitoring and supervision to ensure proper utilisation of farm loans.

 "We've taken various initiatives to achieve the farm loan disbursement target by the end of FY 14," the central banker noted.

As part of the initiatives, the BB has asked three commercial banks for taking necessary measures to achieve their respective targets.

The recovery of farm loans rose to Tk 83.53 billion in the first six months of FY 14, from Tk 70.91 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the BB data showed.

Talking to the FE, a senior official of a leading state-owned commercial bank (SoCB) said the disbursement of agriculture loans would increase in the coming months due to seasonal impact.

He also said the banks particularly SoCBs faced difficulties in disbursement and recovery of agriculture loans in some trouble-hit districts in the last two months due to political unrest.


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