Trust Bank launches farm loan to Tk-10 account holders

Trust Bank began on Thursday disbursing cheaper loan among the farmers who hold Tk 10 accounts with the bank, reports BSS.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman inaugurated the agriculture credit disbursement at a programme at the central bank.

"The loans to Tk-10 account holders would help farmers increase their income and thus it would help bring more dynamism in the rural economy," Dr Atiur told the launching programme.

BB on August 21 this year signed separate memorandum of understanding with 10 commercial banks to disburse loan to Tk-10 holders from the Tk-200 refinancing scheme of the central bank. So far, 31 banks signed the similar agreement. The 31 banks and the central bank have set a target of disbursing Tk 1.39 billion among the farmers of the same category. The governor said 15 banks also signed agreements with some microfinance institutions (MFIs) to run the similar credit programme among the Taka-10 account holding farmers.

Trust Bank will disburse Tk 150 million from the BB's refinancing scheme with Sojag, a non-government organisations, which also runs microcredit programme.

Dr Atiur hoped that more banks would follow the Trust Bank soon, which would help develop further the agriculture sector that contributes 43 per cent to the country's total employment.

He said the Tk-10 account holding farmers would get the loan without any collateral, but their experiences in farming and strong motivation would be considered for sanctioning the cheap credit on single digit interest rate.