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Saifur asks banks to file money loan cases against top defaulters

Staff Correspondent
Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman yesterday asked the Bangladesh Bank (BB) to take necessary steps making sure that the lending rate for new entrepreneurs do not rise on default loans.
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Blaming 80 percent of the default loans on the bankers, Saifur also asked the banks to file cases with the Money Loan Court against big loan defaulters.
"It is seen that while the banks file cases against small loan defaulters, they tend not to act against the fat-bellied loan defaulters," Saifur told the press, emerging from a meeting with bankers, secretaries and others. "It is because the bankers themselves are involved with the big loan defaulters."
The finance ministry meeting was convened to find ways to disburse about Tk 1,500 crore in microcredit through the Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF), some selected ministries and government-owned banks.
Bankers told the finance minister they charge high interest rates against loans, as loan defaults have pushed their cost of fund.
Saifur said it was unfair to slap high interest rate on new entrepreneurs because of some loan defaulters. "That is why, while calculating the cost of fund, the banks should exclude the nonperforming loans so that new entrepreneurs are not burdened with the impact of bad loans," the minister pointed out.
A high official of a nationalised commercial bank (NCB) told The Daily Star after the meeting banks often sue big loan defaulters, but they obtain court injunctions, leading to non-realisation of the default loans for years.
Saifur suggested the banks target disbursing Tk 500 crore agriculture loan this fiscal and the government will provide the sum as capital to four NCBs.
The bankers said for loan restrictions of the central bank their lending growth rate this fiscal year will not exceed 5 percent and it will be difficult to reach the agriculture loan target. They urged the finance ministry to exclude farm credits from the loan restrictions to achieve the target.
The finance minister also urged the banks to provide finance to unconventional yet prospective enterprises. "It's unfortunate that we import parata from Malaysia by spending valuable foreign exchange."
A banker noted there are unconventional entrepreneurs like the one who exported 10 tons of jackfruit seeds to the US.
On how to disburse and utilise Tk 1,500 crore micro-credit, the finance minister asked the bankers and officials to submit a plan in 15 days.
The government has allocated Tk 30 crore for voluntary retirement and to deal with retrenchment. After the BNP-led alliance assumed office in 2001, 2,548 people have taken voluntary retirement and 9,411 others lost jobs due to closure of state-owned enterprises. Most of them are unemployed and can be trained with funds from the Tk 30 crore allocation for new employment, the meeting was told.