& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

BB moves to boost banks1 SME lending

Sajjadur Rahman
The central bank has initiated a move to set targets for commercial banks for financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to stretch the outreach of formal credit for this potential sector.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has decided to replicate the idea following the success it has achieved from streamlining farm credit.
"We will force banks to set an indicative target for the SMEs," a senior BB official said.
Also, the banks will have to adopt an area-based approach to finance the SMEs, the official said.
The BB is also considering formation of a separate department for the SME sector like what has been done by the central banks of India and Pakistan to boost SME credit.
The central bank's continuous efforts resulted in a higher disbursement of farm credit by the commercial banks, including private and foreign ones, in the last few years. Although the BB is putting pressure on banks to lend more to the SMEs, it is not working as expected, according to central bank officials.
Even the BB, the regulator of the financial sector, blamed banks for diverting other sectors’ credits in the name of SMEs to gain higher interests.
BB data shows loans to SMEs increased by 140 percent in one year between March 2008 and March 2009. Total SME loans rose by Tk 44,243 crore to Tk 75,770 crore at the end of March 2009 compared to Tk 31,527 crore in the same month a year ago, mainly because of private commercial banks' lending to SMEs.
Thirty local private commercial banks disbursed Tk 37,892 crore during the period, while the SME loan portfolio stood at Tk 54,822 crore showing the disbursement figure at Tk 16,930 crore in March 2008. The growth rate was an amazing 224 percent during the period.
Welcoming the BB initiative, Muhammad A Rumee Ali, chairman of BRAC Bank, said it is possible to go for area-based approach for funding the SMEs.
“Many potential SME areas still remain untapped. If the BB identifies those areas and ask banks to go there, they'll do it,” said Ali, alsoaformerdeputy governor of the BB.
He said some areas hold potential for fisheries, trading, cane, light engineering and textile. But access to finance is difficult in those areas, he added.
BRAC Bank is the pioneer in SME lending in Bangladesh with disbursing $1.7 billion since its inception in 2003. The bank lends on an average $7,000 to an SME client.
About setting an indicative target for the SMEs, Rumee Ali said it is in force in many developing countries that aim at addressing national priorities.
“But it should be done in consultation with the banks taking cognisance of their capacity," he said.
sajjad@thedailystar.net