SME foundation to disburse Tk45cr in loans to small businesses, returnee migrants
Entrepreneurs will be eligible for loans ranging from Tk1 lakh to Tk25 lakh.
Highlights
- Loans will carry 8% interest in line with Finance Division directive
- Karmasangsthan Bank will provide loans to returnee migrants at 7% interest
- 25% of funds reserved for women entrepreneurs and 20% for SME clusters
- Entrepreneurs can borrow upto Tk25 lakh
- Agro and food-processing businesses may access up to Tk1 crore at 9% interest
- Collateral-free up to Tk10 lakh, repayment tenure of up to 4 years
The SME Foundation has signed agreements with three banks to disburse more than Tk45 crore in loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) under its Credit Wholesaling Programme.
The loans, to be provided from the foundation's revolving fund, will carry an interest rate of 8% in line with a new directive from the Finance Division.
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In a separate initiative aimed at helping returnee migrant workers become entrepreneurs, loans will be distributed through Karmasangsthan Bank with support from the Bangladesh office of the International Labour Organization (ILO). These loans will carry an interest rate of 7%.
Entrepreneurs will be eligible for loans ranging from Tk1 lakh to Tk25 lakh. However, entrepreneurs in cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in agro-based industries and food processing will be able to access loans of up to Tk1 crore at a 9% interest rate.
The agreements were signed on Tuesday night at a hotel in the capital between the SME Foundation and its partner institutions – Mutual Trust Bank, Dhaka Bank and Karmasangsthan Bank.
The signing ceremony was chaired by Industries Secretary Abdoon Naser Khan, while Industries, Commerce, Textiles and Jute Adviser Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir attended as the chief guest.
Speaking at the event, Muqtadir said the initiative would create a sustainable pathway for transforming remittances into entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship into investment and investment into employment.
Under the programme guidelines, partner banks will be encouraged to provide collateral-free loans, with no collateral required for loans of up to Tk10 lakh. Borrowers will have up to four years to repay their loans, including a grace period of up to six months, subject to their relationship with the lending bank
