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The CMSME and agriculture sectors saw their rescue funds arrive at an unhurried pace, while funds to the large industries and the export-oriented sectors were distributed briskly
As the novel coronavirus was busy putting down its roots in Bangladesh in March, the government announced 19 stimulus packages amounting to Tk 103,117 crore to prevent the economy from crashlanding for the prolonged general shutdown needed to slow the spread of the lethal pathogen.
The combined support, which accounted for 3.7 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, mostly entailed loans at 9 per cent interest, with the government chipping in with half of the interest bill.
Loan disbursement from the stimulus packages did not materialise at the same rate. The cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise sector and the agriculture sector saw their rescue funds arrive at an unhurried pace, while funds to the large industries and the export-oriented sectors were distributed briskly.
The slow disbursement to the CMSMEs and farms prompted the Bangladesh Bank to extend the deadline for banks to deliver the fund to March 30 from the end of 2020.
(DT)
