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Saifur slams bankers for reluctance to offer loans to small entrepreneurs

UNB, Dhaka
Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman yesterday had harsh words against the bankers for their reluctance to offer Ioans to small entrepreneurs.
"This is one of the worst practices of our bankers from MDs (managing directors) to junior officers," he told the representatives' conference of Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association (BPIA) at Osmani Memorial Auditorium.
Poultry farmers from the jam-packed auditorium and its outside lobby greeted the minister with huge claps for the criticism, and vented their grievances against the bankers forcing Saifur to stop his speech to hear the problems of the industry from his audience.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdullah Al Noman and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Fakhruddln Ahmed also spoke on the occasion while BPIA Secretary General Syed Abu Siddique presented a paper on problems of the industry, seeking the minister’s intervention to remove the problems and promote the industry.
Saifur, however, asked the bankers for providing loans only on certificates that they have received training in particular small busi-
nesses instead of taking collateral.
"The banks can hardly recover default loans," he criticised the collateral system imposed on the small businesses.
He assured the poultry farmers, only the small ones, of considering interest waivers against their overdue loans and of export incentives as other agriculture sub-sectors enjoy.
"The bankers do not give loans to the small entrepreneurs, rather their eyes are always on the big borrowers. The bankers do not like small borrowers as they cannot appease them," the finance minister said.
Saifur said the big borrowers take huge loans from the banks for projects enjoying lower interest rates like poultry and agro-based industries, but divert the less-expensive funds to other sectors to make quick money.
"The big borrowers have the habit of becoming defaulters and the banks write theirsuch loans off," Saifur said adding that the banks are not willing to waive the loans and interests of the more hazardous small businesses.
He told the conference that the ■ government has undertaken some incentive programmes, including special loan schemes at lower interest rates, for promoting sectors like
agriculture and agro-processing industries, dairy and fisheries.
"It is meant for the small farmers,' he said, explaining that the government has targeted the areas, which have close relation with the poverty alleviation programmes.
Responding to a demand for reducing interest rates on bank loans for the industry, the minister informed the poultry farmers of recent pressure from a donor agency to increase the rates. 'We didn't say anything to them... we only told them that let’s see what we can do."
The finance minister said International Monetary Fund (IMF) is now pushing the government to increase the interest rates saying Bangladesh reduced the interest rates to a great extent.
About tax waiver for the industry, the finance minister said a country cannot run and develop infrastructures to facilitate businesses without having taxes.
He, however, said the businesses running for over 10 years cannot gel tax holiday anymore while the ones running for only 4-5 year can be considered for the waiver.
He suggested small farmers to follow cooperative marketing system like the one of Milk Vita to ensure fair prices for their produces.