Industrial Credit Disbursement Up By 71 Percent In Bangladesh

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Industrial credit disbursement recorded a significant rise by over 71 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08 over that of the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The disbursement of industrial credit stood at $2.19 billion (BDT150 billion) during the July-March period of the fiscal 2007-08. A total of $1.28 billion (BDT 87.6 billion) was disbursed during the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the BB statistics, released recently.

"The upward trend of the industrial term loan disbursement will continue in the near future to meet the growing demand of the businessmen and entrepreneurs," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank, told AHN Media Corp. in Dhaka.

On the other hand, commercial bank officials also expect the uptrend in disbursement of industrial credit to continue in the upcoming quarters in different sectors, including power and telecommunications.

"We see increased demand for term loans, particularly in power sector to meet the growing demand for electricity across the country," a senior official of a commercial bank told the AHN Media Corporation in the capital, Dhaka.

He also said the telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and energy and power and textile sectors have received the lion's share of the industrial credit.

The recovery of term loans increased by more than 49 per cent during the period under review as the banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) intensified their recovery drive in line with the central bank directives, according to the BB officials.

During the period, the industrial credit recovery stood at $1.40 billion (BDT 96.1 billion) compared to $934.67 million (BDT 64.1 billion) of the corresponding period of last fiscal, the BB's data showed.