Staff Reporter :
The central bank will unveil its monetary policy today for the second half of the current fiscal amid falling credit growth to the private sector.
Governor Dr Fazle Kabir will unveil the monetary policy statement through a media briefing at the central bank’s headquarters at 11am.
Officials said that the prime objective of the new monetary policy would be boosting credit to private sector to promote maximum employment generation through sustaining a high economic growth.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) set private sector credit target at 16.8 per cent for the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year (2018-19). But it remains far below the ceiling reaching 13.30 per cent at the end of December last year. “Credit expansion to the private sector remained slow during the first half of this fiscal due to cautious lending practice by banks and lack of demand from businesses amid uncertainty ahead of national election,” a senior BB official told The New Nation yesterday on condition of anonymity.
He said the central bank is likely to keep the private sector credit target unchanged in its latest monetary policy considering the prevailing investment climate in the country.
“In its new policy, the central bank will use various tools to boost money supply to the private sector,” he said, adding, “The demand for private sector credit is expected to grow
in the months to come taking advantage of the BB’s policy measures and renewed business confidence following the general election.”
The central bank set the public sector credit target at 15.9 per cent set for the first half of this fiscal. In December, it stood at 13.3 per cent after showing negative growth during the months July and August last year.
Officials said, a heavy borrowing by the government ahead of the national election pushed the public sector credit growth high.
