Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman on Saturday suggested authorities concerned to ease the rules and regulations so the microcredit activities can get a further boost.
Some 732 microfinance institutions with over 19,000 branches country- wide are now serving 3.5 crore people in self-employment and income generation particularly in rural areas where people hardly get financial supports from banks.
Referring to the contributions of the MFIs to the inclusive economic growth, the governor said despite their significant contribution, the MFIs are facing problem in channelizing fund due to some conditions they are required to fulfil to get financing from banks and other sources.
The governor was addressing at the Dhaka Microfinance Conference-2014, organised by the Credit and Development Forum at the BB Training Academy at Mirpur in the city. Representatives of Microcredit Regulatory Authority, MFIs and banks participated in the conference.
Atiur said the MFIs were facing short supply of fund as banks’ loan cost them high rate of interest besides the conditions of collateral. There are also significant amount of hidden cost of managing fund by the MFIs that often lead them to fund crisis.
Besides, the governor referred to the rules and regulations of MRA that the MFIs should fulfil to take deposit from their members. He advised easing of these rules and regulations so the MFIs can build up fund for expanding their financing to the poor people in rural areas.
-With New Age input
