Bangladesh Bank’s financial inclusion policy has yet to get momentum as the number of inactive farmer accounts which were opened with a Tk-10 initial deposit increased notably in the last quarter of the just concluded financial year on year-on-year basis, said officials of the central bank.
According to latest BB data, the number of the inactive farmer accounts increased by 42.76 per cent in April–June in the FY 13 from that of the corresponding period a year before.
Only 1.47 lakh farmer accounts out of 96.74 lakh was active in the last quarter of the FY 13 against 2.58 lakh active accounts out of 95.86 lakh in the corresponding period of the FY 12.
The overall number of farmer account increased in the last quarter of the FY 13 over the same period of FY 12, but the number of inactive accounts also increased in the period, a BB official told New Age on Thursday.
The BB in January 2010 authorised seven banks to open farmer accounts with an initial deposit of Tk 10 to facilitate agriculture credit as well as to encourage savings among the farmers.
Though the BB through circulars and its deferent agriculture and credit policies asked the banks which are specially assigned to operate the accounts to take necessary measures for activating the accounts, the move virtually failed due to the banks’ unwillingness, the BB official said.
The seven banks which are assigned to operate the farmer accounts for disbursing loans and subsidy are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank, and BASIC Bank.
The BB later included the Bangladesh Development Bank with its financial inclusion programme.
Financial inclusion programme is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society, in contrast to financial exclusion where those services are not available or affordable.
The eight banks used 75,175 accounts in disbursing farm loan in April–June of the FY 13 against 1,49,060 accounts in the corresponding period of the FY 12. Of these 64,366 were used for savings against 1,04,810 accounts, 2,567 for local remittance against 7,290 accounts and 5,077 for receiving foreign remittance against 6,641 accounts.
The BB officials said that the banks concerned had failed to encourage the farmers to use their accounts.
Besides, a good number of farmers who used the accounts earlier are now reluctant to transact through their accounts, he said.
The programme of opening the farmer accounts was taken to spur the BB’s financial inclusion programme across the country, another BB official said.
But, the opening of farmer accounts is yet to put any positive impact on the financial inclusion programme of the central bank despite passing of three and half years since the policy inception, he said.
For this reasons, the programme is now limited on paper, he said.
The BB has recently asked the banks to disburse farm loans with the Tk-10 farmer account but exceptional cases.
The central bank advised the banks to provide the farmer account holders with 1-2 per cent more interest on deposit than the common savings account holders.
The banks can consider to disburse up to 90 per cent loan against the savings by a farmer in his account, the BB circular said adding that the banks in no way could close those accounts.
The eight banks, which opened the accounts between 2010 and 2013, disbursed only Tk 88.56 crore in farm loans and Tk 29.62 crore was deposited in the last quarter of the FY 13 through 75,175 farmer accounts.
Besides, only Tk 13.04 crore in foreign remittance and Tk 5.10 crore in local remittance were deposited with the farmer accounts in the period, the BB data showed.
-With New Age input
