Farm loan disbursement falls 15pc
Agriculture credit disbursement fell 15.11 percent year-on-year to Tk 977 crore in July as flood-hit farmers from northern districts and haor areas have refrained from borrowing.
In the first month of the fiscal year, eight state-run banks collectively lent Tk 415 crore in agriculture loans, down 13 percent year-on-year.
Farm loan disbursement by private and foreign banks fell 28.30 percent to Tk 561 crore.
Agriculture activities in 24 districts almost came to a halt last month as sudden floods hit the areas, a Bangladesh Bank official said.
This prompted the central bank to instruct banks to stop their farm loan recovery programme for the time being and adopt a relaxed rescheduling facility for the affected farmers.
Banks have been also asked to disburse fresh loans to restore momentum in agricultural production.
“We hope that farm loan disbursement will get tempo within the shortest possible time because of the collective efforts taken by both the central bank and banks,” the central banker said.
The BB has set a farm loan disbursement target of Tk 24,124 crore for the fiscal year.
Ten private banks out of 46 did not disburse any farm loans last month.
Private lenders usually give out farm loans through non-governmental organisations (NGOs). But NGOs themselves faced difficulties in continuing the disbursement in the flood-affected zones, the BB official said.
