Refinance Scheme: Cinema hall owners get more time to apply for loans

Cinema hall owners in Bangladesh will be able to apply by December this year for loans under the central bank's Tk 1,000 crore refinance scheme as the deadline has been extended by a year.

The Bangladesh Bank yesterday issued a notice to this effect. The deadline ended in December last year.

The refinance scheme was formed to help theatre owners set up new halls or renovate the existing ones.

In February 2021, the Bangladesh Bank asked hall owners to apply for the soft loans within March 2022, but many of them did not know about it on time.

Against the backdrop, the BB extended the deadline until December last year, but a large portion of the refinance fund was still unused.

In the notice yesterday, the central bank said a good number of cinema hall owners are now showing willingness to take funds from the scheme. So, it has extended the deadline.

Under the scheme, entrepreneurs will get Tk 10 crore to set up new halls and Tk 5 crore for renovation.

The scheme is aimed at bringing back the glory of Bangladeshi cinema.

The repayment period of the loan is eight years, including a one-year grace period. Installments have to be paid on a quarterly basis.

Of the refinance fund, Tk 500 crore will be given out in the first phase while the rest in the second phase.

Participating banks will get the fund from the central bank at a 1.5 per cent interest rate.

The interest rate for the end-users will be 5 per cent in cities and 4.5 per cent outside of metropolitan areas.

In Bangladesh, there were as many as 1,235 cinema halls in 1998. The number has nosedived significantly in the last two decades.

Only 60 halls were operational as of December 2021. However, the number doubles to 120 during Eid festivals, according to the Bangladesh Film Exhibitors Association, a platform for theatre owners.

In most areas, the owners have built multi-story shopping malls demolishing theatres, an entrepreneur said in 2021.

There are many districts and even divisional cities that have no cinema hall at the present, he said, adding that 80 per cent of the workers involved in the sector quit their jobs in the last 10 years.

The number of movies released in Bangladesh has also fallen over the years. Some 321 locally-made movies received censor certificates from 2015 to 2020, according to the Bangladesh Film Censor Board.