Bid to boost farm production

Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Bank has introduced a three-year revolving crop credit limit to boost farm production, a senior central bank official said on Tuesday.

According to the new credit limit, if a farmer takes a crop loan from any bank he will receive the same loan over the next two years from the same bank, without having to reapply as long as he repays or adjusts the initial loan with the new one.
 
"Farmers generally take term loans for crop production. After production and repaying the loan they have to face a series of troubles including submitting applications and seeking third-party help to get a new loan. It takes much time," deputy governor Nazrul Huda said at a press conference.
 
"To get rid of the difficulties, the central bank has introduced revolving crop credit limit," said Huda, who is also chairman of a central bank committee to monitor distribution of agricultural credit.
 
Huda said the Directorate of Agricultural Extension was providing the farmers identity cards by carrying out surveys.
 
"The surveys keep record of the condition of the farmers, nature of the lands and what sorts of crops are produced throughout the year," he said.
 
The farmers would be given loans on the ID cards by fixing the demand for loans based on a year, Huda said.
 
He mentioned that loans would be arranged for the sharecroppers without collateral. "The sharecroppers find it difficult to get loans as they fail to show any collateral. But their number is huge."
 
Huda said they had also ensured that the fishermen got loans without collateral.
 
Bangladesh Bank also announced on Tuesday that it was making it mandatory for all local and foreign banks to distribute farming loans in a bid to ensure food security.
 
"It is obvious from recent experience that there is no alternative in the long term to increasing investment in agriculture," Huda said.
 
"The central bank has accordingly taken this initiative in consultation with the government," said Huda, who is also chairman of a central bank committee to monitor distribution of agricultural credit.

Comments

Add New

Write comment
Name:
Email:	We don't publish your mail. See privacy policy.
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.