Bangladesh Bank is going to take a decision to disburse agriculture loans to produce seeds at the farmers-level avoiding the seeds production companies, said officials of the central bank.
As per rules of the BB, the scheduled banks cannot now disburse farm loans with interest rate of 13 per cent to the farmers, as the local and multinational seeds production companies might get the scope with the lower rate of interest.
A BB official told New Age that the central bank did not bring the issue under its Agriculture and Rural Credit Policy and Programme till date considering that the banks might disburse more loans to the seeds production companies than the farmers.
The BB will issue a fresh circular in this regard in the next month to include with its policy about the loan disbursement for the seed production in the farmers-level, he said.
Some local and foreign seeds companies have been lobbying with the central bank for a long time so that they get bank loans with 13 per cent rate of interest, he said.
But the BB has rejected the application of the companies as such opportunity would hamper the main goal of the farm loan policy, he said.
The BB has recently urged the Department of Agriculture Extension to make a separate loan policy for seed production by the farmers.
According to the Agriculture and Rural Credit Policy and Programme of the BB, the banks have to disburse majority portion of farm loans in six sectors, which are crops, irrigation equipment, agriculture equipment, live-stock and poultry firm, fisheries, and grain storage and marketing.
The outstanding farm loan disbursement by the banks stood at Tk 31,181.26 crore as of August 31, 2013.
The BB in its latest farm loan policy for fiscal year 2013-14 set a disbursement target of Tk 14,595 crore.
Another BB official said that the farmers’ dependence on the seed production companies would decrease when they (farmers) will get loans from the banks with a lower interest rate to produce seeds.
Besides, the seed production at the farmers’ level will also get a tempo which will help them to be self-reliant, he said.
-With New Age input
