Ensure easy access to loans from stimulus package: businesses urge banks
Business leaders today urged the commercial banks to ease the process to get loans from the government's stimulus package launched to help people recover the losses caused by the pandemic.
They made the call at a discussion with the directors and chief executive officers of different commercial banks.
Besides, they called upon the banks to provide the fresh loan, an extension of tenure of the loan under the stimulus package, and the same rate of interest.
However, business leaders and chief executives of commercial banks expressed solidarity to work jointly to take action against the willful defaulter to reduce default loans.
"Action should be taken against willful defaulters in line with enhancing cooperation to the un-willful defaulters," said Md Jasim Uddin, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries.
He said India has allocated 36 per cent of Covid-19 incentives for the SME sector, 33 per cent in Thailand and 24 per cent in Malaysia, but in Bangladesh allocated only 22 per cent. While the implementation of incentive packages in export and large sectors is satisfactory, the implementation rate in the SME sector is only 77 per cent, he added.
In such a situation, it is an urgent need to disburse loans under incentive package to recover the business of cottage, small and medium entrepreneurs, the FBCCI president said.
Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of Eastern Bank Limited and chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), sought cooperation from FBCCI to recover the default loan.
He also informed that around 80 of the loan under the stimulus package has been disbursed—it would better if the disbursement rate would higher than the present percentage.
He assured to work together with FBCCI to provide loans to the SME sector under the stimulus package.
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