Central bank to track farm loan by mobile

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has advised banks to preserve the mobile phone number of each customer in their files to be able to monitor the distribution of farm loans.
The central bank has recently issued a circular to all banks.
The circular also said that if the agricultural loan customer does not have a mobile phone, his neighbour's mobile number must be preserved in the customer's file.
A BB official said there were allegations of irregularities in the distribution of agricultural loans. The provision has been put in place to promptly detect such irregularities.
An inspection team visiting a bank branch will now able to reach the loan recipient easily.
BB has undertaken the initiative to facilitate proper distribution of the agricultural loans, an official said. The bank has appointed 83 new assistant directors and their training scheme includes training at field level.
The 83 new recruits will be trained to monitor whether or not farm loans are being properly distributed.