BB extends loan rescheduling scope to rawhide traders
The central bank yesterday relaxed the rules on loan rescheduling for rawhide traders in a bid to ensure availability of sufficient funds for the industry during Eid-ul-Azha.
Traditionally, half of the country's rawhide supply is collected during the celebration of the Eid, which is about a month away.
However, the majority of the rawhide traders have recently become loan defaulters, which may give rise to issues in the supply chain in the domestic market, according to a central bank notice.
Besides, a major portion of rawhide collected during the sacrificial season will be exported as well.
Under the backdrop, the BB yesterday said that traders will be allowed to reschedule their defaulted loans after paying only a 2 per cent down-payment on outstanding loans as of June 30.
Hence, borrowers can enjoy a renewed repayment tenure of up to six years, including a one-year grace period.
Clients who took term loans will be given a maximum of eight years, including the one-year grace period. Traders will have to send in their applications by July 30 to quality for the relaxed facilities.
Clients will have to pay back at least 15 per cent of their outstanding loans after rescheduling of their non-performing loans if they want to secure further funding.
This year 1.19 crore cattle have been prepared for sacrifice, up from 1.18 crore last year, Abdul Jabbar Sikder, director general of the Department of Livestock Services, told The Daily Star.
However, the demand for cattle would be 20 per cent less than that of the government estimate because of the pandemic, which ate away people's income significantly, according to the Bangladesh Dairy Farmers' Association.
Leather is an export-oriented industry and is a potential sector when it comes to GDP growth, job creation, earning foreign currencies and value addition.
Exports of leather brought in $98.31 million in the just fiscal year, down 40.28 per cent year-on-year, data from the Export Promotion Bureau showed.