Disbursement of agricultural credit witnessed a rise in the first two months of the current fiscal year as banks channelised Tk 1,549.50 crore to the sector which is up by around Tk 193 crore or 9.60 per cent from the same period of the last financial year.

During the first two months (July-August) of the fiscal 2012-13, commercial banks dusbursed Tk 1,356.52crore.

The central bank has targeted disbursement of Tk 14,595 crore agricultural credit in the year 2013-14.

“Agricultural credit disbursement goes up in July-August because of aman season . . . like the state owned commercial banks (SCBs), private banks are attaching priority to the agriculture sector in providing loan,” said Provash Chandra Mallick, general manager of Bangladesh Bank’s Agricultural Credit and Financial Inclusions Department.

The central bank has also beefed up its monitoring and supervision to achieve agricultural credit disbursement target, he added.

According to BB, SCBs and specialized banks disbursed Tk 822.37 crore while private commercial banks (PCBs), including the foreign ones, provided Tk 727.13 crore.

Among the SCBs, Bangladesh Krishi Bank disbursed the highest Tk 517.91 crore, followed by Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank Tk 115.40 crore and Sonali Bank Limited Tk 70.41 crore.

Among the PCBs Islami Bank disbursed the highest Tk 227.19 crore. Six foreign commercial banks Al Falah, Habib Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, State Bank of India and Woori Bank did not provide any agriculture credit during the period.

During the period, BRAC disbursed Tk 22.30 crore among the sharecroppers under Bangladesh Bank’s refinancing scheme while BRDB disbursed Tk 85.19 crore in the agriculture and rural development sector.

News:Daily Sun/14-Sep-2013