BRAC Bank partners with BB to boost northern agro-economy

BRAC Bank PLC has signed a participation agreement with Bangladesh Bank under the central bank’s Tk 3,000 crore revolving refinance scheme to support the development of an agriculture-based economic hub in northern Bangladesh.

AKM Saiduzzaman, director of Bangladesh Bank’s Agriculture Credit Department-2, and Kazi Dilruba Akter, head of SME Business Support at BRAC Bank, signed the agreement at BB headquarters in Motijheel, Dhaka recently.

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The scheme aims to increase agricultural production, strengthen value chains, create employment and support income-generating activities in districts under the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions. Farmers will be able to access financing under the scheme at a maximum interest rate of 7 percent.

The facility will cover four key stages of the agricultural value chain: production and preservation; transportation, marketing and infrastructure; manufacturing and processing of agriculture-based products; and export. It will finance a broad range of activities, including crop production, fisheries, livestock, agricultural machinery, cold-chain facilities, warehouses, food processing, dairy processing, seed production and other agriculture-based industries.

Syed Abdul Momen, additional managing director and head of SME banking at BRAC Bank, said the agricultural sector, particularly farmers, is a driving force behind the country’s economic growth.

“Bangladesh Bank’s refinance scheme will help us strengthen our agri-initiatives, giving farmers easier access to the entire value chain, from financing to selling their final products, and energising the rural economy,” he said.

Md Kabir Ahmed, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank; Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson; Chowdhury Liakat Ali, director of the Sustainable Finance Department; and Liton Kumar Biswas, senior relationship manager for MFI and Agriculture Finance at BRAC Bank, were also present.