United Commercial Bank has joined two Bangladesh Bank pre-financing schemes worth a combined Tk4,000 crore, opening access to loans at 7 per cent for eligible businesses in the leather and export-oriented frozen-food industries.
The two Tk2,000 crore schemes are designed to lower financing costs for sectors that need capital for production, expansion and export capacity.
United Commercial Bank (UCB) signed separate agreements with Bangladesh Bank on Sunday to participate in the schemes.
For leather and leather-goods businesses, financing can be used to support environmentally friendly production, expand export capacity and create jobs.
Frozen-food exporters can use the loans for working capital, setting up or modernising factories and building cold-storage facilities. Eligible exporters include businesses shipping frozen shrimp, fish, vegetables, paratha and other approved products.
Bangladesh Bank has separately listed a Tk2,000 crore pre-financing fund for the export-oriented frozen-food sector and another scheme for the growth and development of leather and leather-goods industries.
UCB Deputy Managing Director Mohammad Ridwanul Hoque exchanged the agreements with Bangladesh Bank directors Md Zabdul Islam and A K M Sayduzzaman.
Bangladesh Bank’s current directory lists those spellings and designations.
Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Md Anis Ur Rahman, Executive Directors Arief Hossain Khan and Nahid Rahman, and UCB Head of SME Mohammad Selim Chowdhury were among those present at the ceremony.
Bangladesh Bank’s current records confirm the spellings and designations of Rahman, Khan and Nahid Rahman.
With the two new agreements, UCB said it has now signed 17 agreements under various Bangladesh Bank refinancing and pre-financing programmes covering small and medium enterprises, agriculture and other eligible sectors.
For borrowers, the main attraction is the 7 per cent rate, which offers significantly cheaper funding than ordinary commercial loans and could ease financing costs for businesses investing in capacity, compliance and exports.
