Bangladesh Bank (BB) has allowed the Authorised Dealers (ADs) to extend loan facilities to Type-C industries of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones (BEPZs) as the ADs give credits to such industries outside the BEPZs.
Now the industries in the country's special industrial enclaves will be able to take loans easily from AD branches of the public and private bank for business purposes, including expansion of the industrial units and productions, said an official of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA).
Such facilities are available in Type-C industries operating in the Economic Zones (EZs) and High-Tech Parks (HTPs) as per relevant provisions of the previous instruction of the central bank, according to a BB official.
The central bank issued a circular recently empowering the ADs to grant loans to the Type-C industries in the BEPZs.
This is to clarify that these circulars will be considered to have been issued in terms of Section 18(2) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947 (amended up to 2015)," the BB circular mentioned.
"We've now allowed the ADs to give such loans to Type-C industrial units in BEPZs. Now these industrial units will get credit easily for the promotion of their business," said BB's chief spokesperson Sirajul Islam.
Talking to Bangladesh Post, BEPZA's general manager Nazma Binte Alamgir said it is a good decision for industries operating in the BEPZs. Now Type-C industrial units will be able to collect credits in Taka from AD branches of banks, she said, adding that hundred percent locally owned industrial units are categorized as Type-C industrial units.
The ADs are able to grant loans in Taka to Type-B industries operating in the above-mentioned zones as per the relevant instructions, said the BB circular.
The Type- A industries can avail foreign currency loans from admissible sources, it added.
As per the BB circular, industries operating in different zones are eligible to get access to finance in Taka from stimulus packages announced by the government to bring the Covid-19 affected industrial production on track.
