Rules relaxed for loans from pre-shipment refinance scheme
The Bangladesh Bank today further relaxed rules for availing loans from its pre-shipment refinance scheme to the tune of Tk 5,000 crore in a bid to help exporters produce their goods smoothly.
Exporters are now allowed to avail of soft loans from the central bank scheme at a 3.5 per cent interest rate instead of the previous 5 per cent, according to a notice issued by the central bank.
The BB had initially set the interest rate at 6 per cent on end-users, but it decreased the rate in phase as clients showed reluctance to get the fund.
Similarly, banks are also permitted to enjoy the loan at a 0.5 per cent interest rate in contrast to the previous 1 per cent.
The central bank declared the scheme, whose tenure is five years, in April 2020 as part of its move to shield exporters from the business slowdown emancipated from the coronavirus pandemic.
Banks disbursed Tk 652 crore or 13 per cent of the volume of the scheme till April 13 this year.
Under the pre-shipment credit, clients can use the loan to produce exported items before shipping those abroad.
This means exporters are allowed to import raw materials, provide salaries to workers, pack the exported items and so on.
Refinance scheme means banks have to give out loans to clients first, after which the lenders will receive the disbursed amount from the central bank.
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