Bangladesh Bank has revised several provisions of its Tk 3,000 crore refinancing scheme designed to support the development of a special agriculture-based economic centre in the northern region.
The central bank issued the revised directives on Sunday through a circular from its Agricultural Credit Department, replacing some provisions of an earlier circular issued on July 6.
Under the revised scheme, participating banks will receive refinancing from Bangladesh Bank at an interest or profit rate of 3 percent, while customers will be charged a maximum of 7 percent.
For Shariah-based financing, banks will determine the profit rate according to their approved investment policies, but it cannot exceed 7 percent and must be applied uniformly to all customers.
The central bank has also revised the loan and investment tenure under the scheme.
Financing for eligible sectors and projects will have a maximum tenure of 18 months, including a three-month grace period where applicable. Participating banks must repay the refinancing amount, along with interest or profit, to Bangladesh Bank within 18 months.
For financing under other specified sectors and projects, the maximum tenure will be 36 months, including a grace period of three to six months where applicable. Banks must repay the principal and interest or profit to Bangladesh Bank within the stipulated period.
Bangladesh Bank has also introduced measures to prevent misuse of the refinancing facility. If a bank is found to have misused the facility or charged customers more than the permitted 7 percent rate, it will have to pay an additional 2 percent interest or profit on the relevant amount as a one-time recovery.
Participating banks have been instructed to widely publicise the concessional financing facility by displaying banners at visible locations inside and outside their branches and arranging special promotional campaigns.
Bangladesh Bank said all other provisions of the earlier circular would remain unchanged and directed banks to implement the revised instructions immediately.
