DHAKA, Feb 25, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh Bank (BB) has set maximum nine per
cent interest rate on all loans except credit cards as part of the government
initiative to bring down the lending rate to a single digit.
The central bank has instructed the banks to implement the new interest
rate from April 1 this year, according to a BB circular issued on Sunday
night.
Borrowers will have to pay an additional 2.0 percent as panel interest
along with the new rate if they become defaulters despite getting the
facility, the circular added.
The central bank has kept unchanged the interest rate at 7.0 percent for
exporters.
From the current year, the circular also said, banks will not be allowed
to disburse loans to the industrial sectors less than their average
outstanding credit in the last three years.
The ongoing high bank interest rates are hindering the growth of the
country’s small, medium and large business, and services sector, said the BB
circular, adding “Such high lending rates are not only pushing their cost of
production but also affecting the country’s competitive advantage in the
global market.”
As a result, the businesses, sometimes, are unable to repay their bank loan
on time which affects the discipline of the bank loans and hampers the
country’s overall economic development, the BB circular added.