Business Desk :
Bangladesh Bank has fixed its agriculture credit target by 7.98% to Tk 283.91 billion for the 2021-22 fiscal year to combat the adverse effects of the pandemic.
The target is almost 8% higher than the Tk 262.92 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to the Agricultural and Rural Credit Policy and Program announced on Thursday.
The disbursement target for state-owned and specialised commercial banks is fixed at Tk110.45 billion and the target for private and foreign commercial banks is fixed at Tk173.46 billion.
This was done ‘considering the pandemic situation and the increased demand for agricultural and rural credit’, Bangladesh Bank said.
The announcement noted that commercial banks had disbursed Tk255.11 billion of last year’s target, or approximately 97.03%. There were approximately 30,55,166 borrowers, 16,05,947 of whom were women.
By the government’s count, 22,45,512 small and marginal farmers received approximately Tk173.64 billion from various banks.
The country’s central bank also added that its Tk50 billion refinance scheme to help mitigate damage from the pandemic has disbursed Tk42.95 billion at the time it ended in June.
