The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday called upon authorities concerned to increase credit flow to the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises.
The chamber made the call when its board of directors led by DCCI president Ashraf Ahmed met with Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur at the bank鈥檚 headquarters in the city, a BB press release said.
During the meeting, Ahsan H Mansur said that if the existing inflation could be brought down to a tolerable level within the next 6-7 months, reduction of policy interest rate and other interest rates would be possible.
In this connection, he said that deposit collection in the banking sector was crucial now and its growth should be reached to double digit. The governor put emphasis on making credit guarantee facilities for SMEs more operational.
He also emphasised the need for limiting the rate of government borrowing to increase the flow of credit to the private sector. Improving payment history and credibility will help getting foreign trade credit for the entrepreneurs, he added.聽
The governor also said that a banking commission would be formed soon, based on which the necessary roadmap would be formulated to bring stability to the financial sector.
He further advised new investors to invest in special economic zones to get all facilities together.
In his speech, Ashraf Ahmed said that if the interest rate increased, that might slow down the flow of credit, especially for CMSMEs.
鈥業n terms of SME financing, the Bangladesh Bank has several schemes, which can be accelerated to facilitate the financing process for this sector,鈥� he added.
The Dhaka chamber president also requested for facilitating foreign trade credit processing, foreign loan processing and increasing credit flow to the banks.
Above all, he requested the central bank to take initiative on reducing of pressure of interest rates on loans to CMSMEs.聽
He requested the Bangladesh Bank not to continue this policy for a prolonged period and start reducing rates as soon as practicable.聽
Emphasising the need for keeping inflation under control, Ashraf Ahmed pointed out that inflation not only increased the cost of common people but also it increased the operational costs of businesses.聽
About bad loans, he said that if the bad loans of the banks came down, the lending interest rate could also be decreased subsequently. He welcomed the central bank鈥檚 initiative to bring stability to the country鈥檚 financial sector.聽
The Dhaka chamber president said that for the development of the CMSME sector, assistance was required to deal with the pressure of interest rate increase and maintain the flow of credit.
Deputy governors of the Bangladesh Bank Nurun Nahar and Md Habibur Rahman, DCCI senior vice-president Malik Talha Ismail Bari, vice-president Md Junaed Ibna Ali and members of the board were also present during the meeting.
