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During the initial five months (July-November) of the fiscal year 2023-24, banks have disbursed agricultural loans amounting to Tk 15,280 crore. These loans have been predominantly utilised by farmers for various purposes such as crop cultivation, cattle farming, and poultry production.
The repayment performance of these agricultural loans has been commendable. Within the same period, farmers have repaid Tk 14,418 crore of their previous loans, marking a significant increase of 12 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. This encouraging trend is reflected in the updated report recently published by Bangladesh Bank.
The government has established a target of Tk 35,000 crores in agricultural loans for the current financial year, representing a 13.60 percent increase compared to the previous financial year 2022-23.
In the initial five months of the current financial year, from July to November, banks have already disbursed 43.66 percent of this target loan amount, totaling Tk 15,280 crore.
According to sources, the total farm loan disbursed until November this year is Tk 54690 crore. Of this, Tk 24729 crore is unpaid or uncollected. As a result, the agricultural sector's default rate has increased to 7.10 percent. The amount of which is Tk 3878 crores in Takas.
According to the data provided by Bangladesh Bank, more than Tk 3319 crores of agricultural loans have been disbursed in the month of November alone which is 0.34 percent higher than the same period of the previous financial year and 5.86 percent higher than October of the current fiscal year.
In the current financial year, the largest loan disbursement took place in the month of September as a single month. Banks disbursed more than Tk 3519 crore in agricultural loans in this month. After that, the second-highest loan was disbursed in the month of November itself. A total of Tk 3135 crore was disbursed in the agriculture sector in October, while Tk 3316 crore in August and Tk 1991 crore in July.
Till November 2023, the disbursement of agricultural loans stood at Tk 54590 crore which is Tk 4284 crore or 8.73 percent more than November 2022. During the same period of the previous year, the amount of loan disbursement was Tk 50206 crore.
In the month of November of the current financial year, 10 other big NGOs including Grameen Bank distributed agricultural loans as micro loans amounting to Tk 17408 crore. During this time, they got back the loan of Tk 16959 crores. At the end of November, the number of loans disbursed to the micro-credit sector by these organisations stood at Tk 114,400 crore. Out of this, Tk 5156 crores are unpaid.
In the current fiscal year, Bangladesh Bank has set a target of Tk 35,000 crore for annual agricultural and rural loan disbursement which is 13.60 percent more than last financial year. Last financial year, the agricultural loan target was Tk 30,811 crore.
In this, the target of disbursement of loans of government banks is set at Tk 3280 crores. The target of two government-specialised agricultural banks was Tk 8750 crore, Tk 21923 crores to private sector commercial banks and Tk 1047 crores to Bangladeshi branches of foreign banks.
To minimize reliance on Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) and ensure farmers have access to low-interest rates, Bangladesh Bank has mandated that private banks distribute at least 50 percent of agricultural credit through their own networks. This requirement has been increased from the previous 30 percent. Additionally, Bangladesh Bank has specified the allocation of agricultural loans to different sectors.
According to the agricultural loan policy formulated for the current financial year, doing various agricultural activities on the roof of the building is a new idea which is currently increasing in urban areas. The garden which is developed on the roof of the house with flowers, fruits, and vegetables in a scientific manner is known as roof garden.
Messenger/Fameema
