UNB, Dhaka :
Economists and business insiders said the stimulus loans for the big and small businesses have worked like oxygen to face a crisis during the pandemic period. Former BB governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed told UNB that the central bank has done a tremendous job, emphasising implementation of stimulus loans. Despite some criticism of delayed disbursement, the BB’s contribution to economic recovery is appreciable, he said.
Md Jashim Uddin, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Faruque Hassan, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) echoed similar sentiments. They also acknowledged that the support of BB has worked to increase the confidence of businesses which helped them rebound in the production of the industries. Latest update of stimulus loan disbursement shows that around Tk1.218 lakh crore (Tk1, 00,218 crore) has been disbursed so far in first and second phases from 10 incentive packages managed by Bangladesh Bank. Of this, Tk 42,173 crore was disbursed to the industry and services sector, Tk 20,793 crore in cottage, small and medium enterprises, Tk 513 crore in refinancing loans in the pre-shipment sector, and Tk 2,492 crore disbursed among low-income professional farmers and small traders.
Besides, Tk 21,250 crore from the export development fund, Tk 1,933 crore from SME sector loan guarantee scheme, Tk 5,000 crore for workers in export-oriented industries, Tk 1,390 crore for consumer interest subsidy and Tk 4466 crore for agriculture sector refinancing scheme has been distributed. However, a fund of Tk 1,000 crore was set up for the salaries and allowances of the employees of hotels, motels and theme parks in the tourism sector but no loan was disbursed.
The BB started implementation of the second phase of 10 stimulus loan packages from July of current fiscal year 2021-22 through banks and FIs. The BB released an update of stimulus loan activities till January 11, recently. It said banks and financial institutions (FI) have disbursed Tk 15,000 crore among 67,000 entities in big and small categories across the country till January 11, 2022.
