Business Desk :
Bangladesh Bank on Sunday directed banks to give out loans and credit cards to IT freelancers in the country in order to promote the freelancing sector.
The freelancers having virtual identity cards provided by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) division will be allowed to avail loan and credit cards from banks, according to a notice issued by the central bank.
There are around 6.50 lakh freelancers working in the country’s IT sector and they collectively earn nearly $200 million every year, according to the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), a national trade body for software and IT enabled service industry.
Foreign currency earnings through IT freelancers have been on the rise in recent years, contributing to the national economy to a significant extent, the central bank notice said.
The government has taken several initiatives to this end for developing human resources, creating entrepreneurs, generating employment and boosting investment in the freelancing sector in order to turn the nation as a developed one by 2041.
As part of the move, the government has already started providing virtual ID card to the freelancers.
The sector will progress appropriately if the freelancers get loans and credit cards from banks, the central bank notice said.
A freelancer is an individual who earns money on a per-job or per-task basis, usually for short-term work.
A freelancer is not an employee of a firm and may therefore be at liberty to complete different jobs concurrently, unless contractually committed to work exclusively until a particular project is completed.
