BSS, Dhaka :
Lending to women entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector rose by 50 percent last year over the previous year’s loan disbursement, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Sunday.
He said a total of 41 thousand 695 women entrepreneurs received Taka 3 thousand 347 crore in 2013, which was 50 percent higher from the amount that all banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) disbursed in 2012.
The governor was addressing a seminar on “SME Banking Seminar on Credit Access for Women Entrepreneurs – Challenges and the Way Forward”, held in a hotel in Chittagong, according to a BB release.
Dr Atiur in his speech underscored the need of women entrepreneurs to the economic growth process, but pointed out that the number of women involved with the activities of main economic stream was still very limited though half of country’s population is female.
He said the targeted sustainable economic growth would remain unachieved if women in increasing number could not be involved in productive and value-added activities.
Dr Atiur said BB had been promoting women entrepreneurship through various programmes, schemes and projects. For example, he said the central bank prioritised lending to women entrepreneurs, which resulted in increasing trend in credit disbursement to women.
According to him, in 2012 the loan disbursement to women entrepreneurs was 3.22 percent of the total lending to SME sector, which rose steadily to 3.92 percent in 2013 and to 3.7 percent in the past 10 months of 2014 when 20 thousand 349 women entrepreneurs got Taka 2 thousand 651 crore loans from banks and NBFIs.
The governor said BB also launched a separate “Bangladesh Bank Women Entrepreneurs’ Fund” to provide women entrepreneurs with loans at much lower rate of interest than regular lending rates. Besides, he said a separate “Women Entrepreneur’s Dedicated Desk” had also been lunched at the central bank to provide necessary banking services to women entrepreneurs.
Industries secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, President of Bangladesh Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Md Abdullah also addressed the programme, chaired by president of Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mrs Kamrun Malek.
Lending to women entrepreneurs in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector rose by 50 percent last year over the previous year’s loan disbursement, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Sunday.
He said a total of 41 thousand 695 women entrepreneurs received Taka 3 thousand 347 crore in 2013, which was 50 percent higher from the amount that all banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) disbursed in 2012.
The governor was addressing a seminar on “SME Banking Seminar on Credit Access for Women Entrepreneurs – Challenges and the Way Forward”, held in a hotel in Chittagong, according to a BB release.
Dr Atiur in his speech underscored the need of women entrepreneurs to the economic growth process, but pointed out that the number of women involved with the activities of main economic stream was still very limited though half of country’s population is female.
He said the targeted sustainable economic growth would remain unachieved if women in increasing number could not be involved in productive and value-added activities.
Dr Atiur said BB had been promoting women entrepreneurship through various programmes, schemes and projects. For example, he said the central bank prioritised lending to women entrepreneurs, which resulted in increasing trend in credit disbursement to women.
According to him, in 2012 the loan disbursement to women entrepreneurs was 3.22 percent of the total lending to SME sector, which rose steadily to 3.92 percent in 2013 and to 3.7 percent in the past 10 months of 2014 when 20 thousand 349 women entrepreneurs got Taka 2 thousand 651 crore loans from banks and NBFIs.
The governor said BB also launched a separate “Bangladesh Bank Women Entrepreneurs’ Fund” to provide women entrepreneurs with loans at much lower rate of interest than regular lending rates. Besides, he said a separate “Women Entrepreneur’s Dedicated Desk” had also been lunched at the central bank to provide necessary banking services to women entrepreneurs.
Industries secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, President of Bangladesh Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Md Abdullah also addressed the programme, chaired by president of Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mrs Kamrun Malek.
