The government has arranged loan facilities for the farmers at an interest rate of four percent and also making the process of loan application much simpler.
It is learnt that due to difficulties in submitting documents most of the farmers are reluctant to apply for a loan. However, the process of providing loan to the farmers is being made easier.
Citing the real farmer can be given loan without collateral on easier terms Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzque said the lending process should be made easier and genuine farmers shall get priority.
The minister said these things while addressing as the chief guest at a seminar titled, ‘Our position and what to do to increase financial inclusion in the livestock sector’ organized by Adorsho Pranisheba Limited at a hotel in the capital on Sunday.
Mentioning the need for insurance in livestock, the minister said, “Currently the price of a cow is Tk 5 lakh to Tk 10 lakh. That is why livestock must be insured. But the people of the country do not trust the insurance companies. They harass and cheat customers extensively. Insurance should be made consumer friendly by stopping this harassment and fraudulence.”
Egg prices have increased, but this is temporary. And the minister also said that the price will come down soon. Regarding the production of edible oil, the minister said that the Ministry of Agriculture is implementing a specific action plan to produce 40 percent of the country’s demand for edible oil within the next 3 years to 4 years.
The panelists highlighted the importance of financial inclusion, credit and investment in the livestock sector. They said there is a need to change the attitude of bankers in providing agricultural loans. Besides, most banks have not yet set up branches at the village level. On the other hand, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and NGOs take low-interest loans from Bangladesh Bank and distribute loans at 20 percent to 25 percent higher interest rates at the village level.
National Project Coordinator of UNIDO and former Director General of Directorate of Livestock Ainul Haque presented the main article in the seminar. In the article, the amount of loan disbursement in the livestock sector in the financial year 2020-21 was Tk 3,550 crore, which is 14 percent of the total agricultural loan.
The main obstacles to financial inclusion in the livestock sector are procedural complications in the credit process, collateral complications, reluctance of private banks, violence of middlemen, mortality risk of livestock, lack of institutional facilities for insurance etc, he showed.
Krishi Bank managing director Ismail Hossain, media and agriculture personality Shaikh Siraj, Additional Secretary of Financial Institutions Division Abdullah Harun Pasha, Agriculturist Awlad Hossain among others also spoke on the occasion.
