Access to credit boost production
Banks disbursed Tk12,184cr farm credit in last fiscal
With the central bank’s strict monitoring and pragmatic measures, banks and financial institutions have achieved over 96 per cent of their annual target in farm credit disbursement in the immediate past fiscal, official sources said. Eight state-owned banks and financial institutions along with the private commercial banks (PCBs) have disbursed Tk12,184.32 crore as agriculture credit against the target of Tk 12617.40 crore fixed for the fiscal year 2010-11, according to a central bank statistics. Besides, banks and specialised financial institutions have disbursed Tk 1116.88 crore agro-credit against the target of Tk 11512.30 crore during the fiscal year 2009-10. The figure shows that farm credit disbursement by the banks and financial institutions has increased by Tk 1,067 crore in the preceding fiscal compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. However, recovery of agricultural credit during the period also stood higher at Tk 12,148.61 crore while Tk 10,112.75 crore have been recovered during the same period of the previous fiscal (2009-10), according to the data. The loans have been given to eight agro-based sub-sectors like crops, irrigation equipment, livestock, agricultural products marketing, fisheries and poverty alleviation. “Farm credit disbursement was close to the annual target due to proper supervision and relaxation of its rules and regulations by the central bank,” a high official of Bangladesh Bank, told The New Nation on Sunday. He said state-owned banks and financial institutions have performed tremendously and fulfilled their farm credit target during the period. “Though the state-owned financial institutions had achieved their target during the last fiscal, the PCBs were unable to reach it due to difficult economic and market conditions,” he added. However, overall banking sector was able to achieve more than 96 per cent per cent of their annual target during the period as the central bank was keen to ensure credit facilities for each interested farmer across the country without any harassment. “Besides, it (central bank) has made mandatory for all local and foreign commercial banks to disburse agricultural credit from the last fiscal to help ensure food security of Bangladesh,” he added. It has also introduced a ‘revolving crop credit limit system’ for a three-year term to gear up disbursement of the farm loan. Bangladesh Bank has earlier relaxed its credit policy with a view to facilitating the disbursement of agricultural loans to sharecroppers and landless farmers across the country. “Under the BB’s new policies, sharecroppers, who are directly engaged in farming, will be entitled to receive agricultural loan,” added the official. As per the new system, the farmers will not require to apply afresh every time for agricultural credit. Sources said the central bank would announce this year’s agro-credit policy on July 22, setting farm loan disbursement target at Tk 13,800 crore for the current fiscal year. The agriculture sector, which accounts for 20.2 per cent of gross domestic products (GDP), grew by 4.7 per cent in the immediate past fiscal year compared to 4.1 per cent in the previous fiscal, official sources said. The government continued policy support, including subsidy on input prices, supply and distribution of key inputs, higher procurement prices of outputs, access to credit and better delivery of extensive services were the key factors that aided to the robust growth in agro-sector, according to the ministry of agriculture.
-With The New Nation input
