To announce new farm loan policy on July 23
Bangladesh Bank will announce the agriculture and rural credit policy and programmes for the current financial year 2013–14 on July 23 making farmers’ account vibrant.
It will also set new rules and regulations to stimulate the farm loan disbursement, said officials of the central bank.
According to the new BB farm loan policy, the scheduled banks will have to disburse agricultural
loan with the Tk-10 farmers’ account but exceptional cases.
The BB has taken the initiatives in a bid to ensure the transparency for the farm loan disbursement, the policy said.
Head offices of the banks concerned will set the annual target to activate the farmers’ accounts. The higher management of the banks will give directions to their branches in this regard.
The banks will not impose any charge or fee in operating the farmers’ accounts. Besides, the banks will not force the farmers to keep minimum balance with the accounts. The banks will never make the farmers’ accounts inoperative or dormant.
A bank usually inactivates any account if the owner of the account does not transact for the last six months.
The BB data showed that majority of the farmers’ accounts had remained inactive in the first half of the FY 13.
Only 3.52 lakh farmers’ accounts out of 96.37 lakh remained active in July–December of the FY 13.
Under the circumstances, the BB has taken initiatives in its new farm loan policy to remain active the farmers’ accounts, a BB official told New Age on Monday.
He, however, said that the BB had increased the farm loan disbursement target by 3.29 per cent to Tk 14,595 crore for local and foreign banks for the FY 14.
The BB set annual farm loan disbursement target at Tk 14,130 crore for the FY 13, Tk 13,800 crore for the FY 12 and Tk 12,617.40 crore for the FY 11.
All banks collectively disbursed Tk 14,667.49 crore, or 103.80 per cent of the annual target of Tk 13,180 crore in farm loan in the just concluded FY 13.
The BB will also bring some reforms of its equity and entrepreneurship fund so that the small entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector will get the facility from the fund, said the central bank official.
The BB will decrease the cost of a minimum project to Tk 20 lakh instead of Tk 50 lakh.
Under the EEF, the central bank has included a number of products to disburse the loans. These are production of compost fertiliser, production of soya food and soybean processing, processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables, cultivation, production and processing of battle nut, hatchery of turtle, and setting up palm oil mill.
Another BB official said that the central bank would provide the successful banks in disbursing the farm loan with the incentive.
The BB will take farm loan disbursement of the banks into consideration when it (BB) will permit the opening of new branch, authorised dealer branch and foreign exchange house in abroad for the banks, he said.
-With New Age input
