Businesspeople, experts make the call at SME Financing Fair 2014
Businesspeople and experts on Wednesday urged the scheduled banks to set rate of interest on the SME loans at single digit instead of the existing high interest rate in a bid to strengthen the country’s financial inclusion. The request came from the inaugural session of the two-day SME Financing Fair 2014 jointly organised by Bangladesh Bank and SME Foundation at a hotel in the capital.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry chairman Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said that all banks should take initiative to disburse SME loans at an interest rate of single digit to ensure sustainable development.
Kazi Akram, also chairman of Standard Bank, said that banks should set maximum 10 per cent rate of interest on the SME loans to create new entrepreneurs if they fail to provide single digit.
Banks now usually set 18 per cent to 22 per cent interest rate on the SME loans.
Commerce secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that the rate of interest on the SME loans was much high although banks once had disbursed the loans at single digit.
Banks should come forward to decrease the rate of interest on the SME loans, he said.
Besides, banks are usually reluctant to disburse the SME loans to new entrepreneurs that is not desirable, he said.
Finance minister AMA Muhith attended the fair as chief quest.
He said it was a positive trend that 30 per cent of the total banks’ credits were disbursed in the SME sector.
The country faced dull business situation before eight to nine months, but the situation has started to change, he said.
BB governor Atiur Rahman said that entrepreneurs were now facing crisis to place adequate collateral securities with banks to receive SME loans.
They also face lack of skill in business management and inadequate capability of mitigating risks, he said.
Atiur said the BB was giving policy support to entrepreneurs so that they could get SME loans easily from banks and non-bank financial institutions.
The BB and SME Foundation gave awards under 10 categories to banks and NBFIs due to their outstanding performance in the SME sector in the last year.
Mutual Trust Bank was awarded SME Bank of the Year while IDLC Finance SME NBFI of the Year.
-With New Age input
