Business Desk :
Some 12.4 million bank clients have directly benefited from the stimulus packages announced by the government to revive the economy by containing the Covid-19 fallout, claimed the Bangladesh Bank on Monday.
In a statement, the central bank said the government had announced a total of 23 stimulus packages of Tk 124,053 crore and then it was extended by another Tk 4,250 crore through EDF, taking the total to Tk 128.303 crore. The Bangladesh Bank was directly involved in nine, out of 23, stimulus packages.
The statement said it was found that some 1.3 million people were the direct beneficiaries from 10 packages under which bank loans were provided to youths for employment generation, farmers for agriculture production, large industries and service sectors, small and medium industries, whole loans were distributed under the Bangabandhu Agriculture Loan and through the Ansar-VDP Bank.
Besides, an amount of Tk 5000 crore was provided as subsidy against the loans distributed for garment workers and employees for their salaries while another Tk 1,390 crore was distributed where the number of direct beneficiaries is 3.8 million and 7.3 million, with the total number of beneficiaries being 11.1 million.
The total number of beneficiaries, therefore, stands at 12.4 million while 83 percent of the total stimulus package was implemented taking the total amount to Tk 83,053 crore.
Some Tk 25,210 crore was distributed as loan for sectors like micro, cottage, and medium industries, agriculture re-financing scheme, low-income groups like farmers, small traders, 4 percent concessional-interest loan for agriculture, 5-year term fishery and livestock loan and Bangabandhu Youth Loans under Ansar-VDP Bank for production enhancement and poverty eradication.
