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The financial loss of the coronavirus has been announced in the incentive package for various sectors, the interest rate on loans is less than 5 percent. As a result, interest rates on government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) loans for the small and medium-sized enterprise (CMSME) sector have also been reduced. Before, the interest rate was 9 percent, yesterday it was reduced to 6 percent. This new interest rate will be effective for all new and old loans. The Bangladesh Bank issued a notification in this regard on Monday.
People related to banks say that the distribution of low-interest loans has almost stopped due to the distribution of low-interest loans under incentives. Again, there are some old loans in various sectors under the financial assistance fund of various donor agencies, the interest rate of which is still above 6 percent. As a result, clients do not show much interest in taking out these loans. For this reason, the central bank has started to lower the interest rate to refinance loans.
Some 3,000 SMEs are known to have received loans for the CMSME sector under government and ADB projects as of last October. The amount of debt in this sector is approximately one billion rupees. Under this fund, 33 banks and financial institutions have entered into agreements with the central bank to grant loans.
