BRAC Bank and Bangladesh Bank (BB) on 8 September signed a Participation Agreement to disburse low-interest, easy-term loans from a Tk5,000 crore working capital refinance fund dedicated to the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprise (CMSME) sector.
Eligible operational CMSME enterprises facing working capital shortages can access the facility at an interest rate of 9 per cent, said a press release on Saturday.
The agreement was signed at BB’s head office. BRAC Bank Managing Director and CEO Tareq Refat Ullah Khan signed on the bank’s behalf. BRAC Bank Additional Managing Director and Head of SME Banking Syed Abdul Momen exchanged the agreement document with BB SME and Special Programmes Department Director Md Jabdul Islam.
Cenbank Deputy Governor Md Anisur Rahman attended as chief guest, along with BB Executive Director Nahid Rahman and BB Additional Director Shahnaz Parveen.
The fund, introduced under BB’s Tk60,000 crore stimulus package, aims to supply CMSME entrepreneurs with the working capital they need to run production, service and business operations at full capacity. It also seeks to lift momentum in a slowing economy by generating direct and indirect employment across the country.
BRAC Bank Managing Director and CEO Tareq Refat Ullah Khan said, “Our founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, established BRAC Bank with a clear purpose- to address the financing challenges faced by the country’s CMSME entrepreneurs. That purpose remains firmly embedded in the bank’s mission today.”
