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BB plans Tk 500cr for sharecroppers

Star Business Report
The central bank plans to set up a Tk 500 crore fund to disburse loans to tens of thousands of sharecroppers in rural Bangladesh, officials said yesterday.
“We are designing a special package for bargadars (sharecroppers) and taking initiatives under the agricultural credit policy to help them get farm loans." Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman told a luncheon meeting
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) organised the meeting to discuss the "Present Economic Outlook and Challenges Facing Bangladesh Economy", at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
The governor said the central bank has set a target to ensure disbursement of Tk 11,500 crore in loans under the agricultural credit policy to revamp the rural economy and ensure pro-poor growth.
The target is 23 percent higher than the actual disbursement of Tk 9,300 crore last fiscal year, according to BB officials.
"We are also planning for disbursement of an additional Tk 500 crore to allow sharecroppers to get access to funds,” the governor said without elaborating whether the money will be disbursed through bank funds or a refinancing scheme under BB.
Insiders however said BB might form a refinancing fund or develop other mechanisms to extend loans to the farmers.
Rahman observes the economy performed quite well despite the current global downturn, thanks to the country's low exposure to toxic assets in world financial markets.
"Currently the foreign exchange reserve is $7.4 billion and remittance registered growth to touch $9.67 billion last fiscal year. We have also recorded double-digit growth in exports. These are
positive outcomes," Rahman said.
Given the current global and domestic scenario, the central bank chief expected the economy to grow between 5.5-6.0 percent in fiscal 2009-10, which is close to the level achieved in fiscal 2008-09. The previous fiscal year recorded growth of 5.9 percent, the slowest rate since 2002-03.
“If the dark clouds over die world economy clear and domestic economy remains benign, we will achieve projected growth," he said.
"Poor infrastructure, which hurts potential growth of the economy, is Achilles' heel,” he said, calling upon entrepreneurs to participate in infrastructure development initiatives under publicprivate partnership (PPP) programmes to remove the bottleneck.
Rahman said economic growth should be inclusive and evaluated on the basis of quality instead of quantity.
“Growth should be inclusive, sustainable and environmentally responsible," he said.
The monetary policy for the first half of fiscal 2009-10, announced earlier this week, was designed to attain pro-poor growth and maintain price stability.
In the monetary policy, BB set a target to allow credit to the private sector at 17 percent for the current fiscal year to boost investment.
"Money will not be a problem for entrepreneurs. We want to assure them that we always be on their side," Rahman said.
Rahman also said the government plans to borrow funds from the banking system and it would not hurt credit flow to the private sector.
"We are not encouraging the government to borrow from the banking system. Individual entrepreneurs should not worry whether public sector borrowing would hurt credit. There is enough liquidity fh the system."