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Loan disbursement through agent banking wings of banks dropped by 79.1 per cent or Tk 225.9 crore in April compared with that in the previous month amid the enforcement of countrywide fresh Covid restrictions.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, disbursement of loans from the banks’ agent banking wings dropped to Tk 59.7 crore in April from Tk 285.6 crore in March.
The disbursement of loans through the agent banking wing in March was the second highest after the disbursement of Tk 483.1 crore in loans through agents banking wings in December 2020.
Bankers said that the fresh imposition of restrictions from April 5 had prompted the businesses, including the small and medium entrepreneurs, to adopt a go-slow approach to taking loans for their enterprises.
The banks which have been offering loans through their agent banking wings might have decided to observe the coronavirus situation, they said.
Of the disbursement in April, the disbursement in urban areas dropped by 80.85 per cent or Tk 93.7 crore to Tk 22.2 crore from Tk 115.9 crore in the previous month.
Besides, the issuance of loans by the banks in the rural areas dropped by 77.9 per cent or Tk 132.2 crore to Tk 37.5 crore in April from Tk 169.7 crore in the previous month.
With the Tk 59.7 crore disbursement in April, the banks’ outstanding lending through agent banking wing increased to around Tk 2,560 crore.
In terms of loan disbursement, BRAC Bank took the top position among the banks while Bank Asia, The City Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, NRB Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh and Modhumoti Bank followed the chart.
On the other hand, deposits mobilisation by the banks increased to Tk 17,919.9 crore.
Of the desposits, the urban deposits reached Tk 4,800.3 crore against the rural deposits of Tk 13,119.6 crore.
The lending and deposit disbursement trend showed that the banks are mostly concentrating on mobilising funds mostly from the rural areas by using agent banking wings rather than channelling credits to the rural areas, an official of the central bank said.
The central bank has been emphasising lending through agent banking wings especially in the rural areas so that the people in the low-cost fund can contribute to strengthening economic activities in those areas, the official said.
Since the issuance of guidelines in 2013, the central bank has issued agent banking licences to 28 banks. Of them, 27 are in operation.
In April 2021, the number of agent banking accounts reached 1.15 crore from 67.28 lakh a year ago.
Of the 1.1 crore accounts, 89.52 lakh accounts were opened in rural areas while the remaining 25.01 lakh accounts were opened in urban areas.
The number of agents of the banks rose to 12,462 in March 2021 from 8,429 a year ago.
