Mohammed Badrul Ahsan :
Farm loan disbursement posted a 14 billion or 22.78-per cent growth in the July-November period of the current financial year (2016-17) compared with the corresponding period.
All the baks together disbursed Tk 7,571.07 crore in farm loans during the against Tk 6,166.02 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data.
BB officials said banks grappling with surplus liquidity amid a dull business situation in the country showed an increased interest in disbursing agriculture credit in recent months.
A BB official told The New Nation that due to a sluggish trend in the growth of the industrial sector credit, banks were trying to invest significant amount of fund in the government securities with an interest rate of 3-8 per cent.
But the government is now accepting limited amount of bids, much to the frustration of the banks and the situation is compelling banks to give more attention to farm loan disbursement, he said.
Of the disbursed farm loans (Tk 7,571.07 crore), eight state-owned banks distributed Tk 3,396 crore, and the remaining Tk 4,175 crore was disbursed by the private commercial banks and foreign commercial banks.
The scheduled banks together achieved 43.14 per cent of their annual farm loan disbursement target for FY17 in five months of the FY17 against the annual target of Tk 17,550 crore.
The BB official said that the central bank would organise a review meeting on December 27 with the private and foreign commercial banks to review their performances in agriculture credit disbursement and recovery.
The central bank will arrange another meeting with the eight state-run banks on December 28 to review their farm loan disbursement and recovery process, he said.
He said that the BB would advise all banks at both the meetings to take required measures to achieve their annual farm loan disbursement target as some banks disbursed lower amount of farm loans in the July-November period.
‘We will review overall performances in both farm loan disbursement and recovery by all scheduled banks in the month of December at the meetings to know the overall agro-credit situation,’ the BB official said.
The BB will take punitive action against the banks which will not take required steps to meet their annual farm-loan disbursement targets for FY17, said the central bank official.
The central bank recently blocked undisbursed farm loan amount of Tk 139.81 crore of four banks which failed to achieve their farm loan targets in FY16.
The BB has been keeping the fund under its custody and the four banks also will not get any interest on the amount, BB officials said.
The BB will repay the deposited fund to the respective banks at the end of this fiscal year if they distribute the undisbursed amount with their fresh targets for FY17.
The recovery of agriculture loans rose to Tk 6,969 crore in the five months of FY17 from Tk 6,090 crore in the same period a financial year ago.
Farm loan disbursement posted a 14 billion or 22.78-per cent growth in the July-November period of the current financial year (2016-17) compared with the corresponding period.
All the baks together disbursed Tk 7,571.07 crore in farm loans during the against Tk 6,166.02 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data.
BB officials said banks grappling with surplus liquidity amid a dull business situation in the country showed an increased interest in disbursing agriculture credit in recent months.
A BB official told The New Nation that due to a sluggish trend in the growth of the industrial sector credit, banks were trying to invest significant amount of fund in the government securities with an interest rate of 3-8 per cent.
But the government is now accepting limited amount of bids, much to the frustration of the banks and the situation is compelling banks to give more attention to farm loan disbursement, he said.
Of the disbursed farm loans (Tk 7,571.07 crore), eight state-owned banks distributed Tk 3,396 crore, and the remaining Tk 4,175 crore was disbursed by the private commercial banks and foreign commercial banks.
The scheduled banks together achieved 43.14 per cent of their annual farm loan disbursement target for FY17 in five months of the FY17 against the annual target of Tk 17,550 crore.
The BB official said that the central bank would organise a review meeting on December 27 with the private and foreign commercial banks to review their performances in agriculture credit disbursement and recovery.
The central bank will arrange another meeting with the eight state-run banks on December 28 to review their farm loan disbursement and recovery process, he said.
He said that the BB would advise all banks at both the meetings to take required measures to achieve their annual farm loan disbursement target as some banks disbursed lower amount of farm loans in the July-November period.
‘We will review overall performances in both farm loan disbursement and recovery by all scheduled banks in the month of December at the meetings to know the overall agro-credit situation,’ the BB official said.
The BB will take punitive action against the banks which will not take required steps to meet their annual farm-loan disbursement targets for FY17, said the central bank official.
The central bank recently blocked undisbursed farm loan amount of Tk 139.81 crore of four banks which failed to achieve their farm loan targets in FY16.
The BB has been keeping the fund under its custody and the four banks also will not get any interest on the amount, BB officials said.
The BB will repay the deposited fund to the respective banks at the end of this fiscal year if they distribute the undisbursed amount with their fresh targets for FY17.
The recovery of agriculture loans rose to Tk 6,969 crore in the five months of FY17 from Tk 6,090 crore in the same period a financial year ago.
