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Troubled sectors get more time to reschedule loans

Sajjadur Rahman
Bangladesh Bank (BB) will extend the timeframe and include more sectors for bank loan rescheduling facility up to June next year to help exporters amid the global financial crisis, a senior central bank official said.
The central bank will issue a circular in this regard next week, the official said.
The BB decided to extend the rescheduling facility following suggestions of the working committee of taskforce on recession.
“The central bank is going to extend the time so affected sectors do not face any difficulty in getting bank loan further," said the official.
Earlier in April the BB gave industries affected by the global economic meltdown an opportunity to reschedule their loans without any down payment until September.
l ive sectors -- frozen food, jute, leather, textile (including spinning) and readymade garments (RMG) -were allowed the benefit as they were at risk of defaulting on loan repayment because of the economic slowdown.
This time some other sectors will be included in the package.
"Some other export sectors that are in problems will also be given the loan rescheduling facility," the central bank official told The Daily Star yesterday.
But the official declined to mention the new sectors to be included in the list for the facility.
Generally loan rescheduling requires 10-50 percent down payment on the overdue loan. But no down payment will be required with the BB amnesty.
Abdus Salam Murshcdy, president o I Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), hailed the BB
move, saying that it would help them compete in the global market.
But Murshcdy demanded the interest ceiling of their loans at 10 percent instead of the existing 13 percent and extension of time for term lending.
"If the repayment period for term lending is not extended, we will be in trouble to repay the loan next year,” he said.
The BGMEA president also supports the BB initiative to include more sectors that are in problems.
“Definitely, it will benefit the exporters," said Anwar-UI-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former BGMEA president.
The facility will give the exporters a breathing space, but ultimately there will be no cut in accumulated interest, he added.
sajjad@thedailystar.net