The SME Foundation wants to provide more than 30 percent of the Tk 200 crore loan incentive package to women entrepreneurs to recover from the losses of Covid-19.
Dr Md Mofizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation provided the information in a view exchange meeting on Zoom platform with representatives of small and medium entrepreneur chambers, associations and women-entrepreneurial organizations across the country regarding the preparation for disbursement of loans.
He added that disbursement of loans could start in the third week of this month after signing agreements with banks and non-bank financial institutions.
In order to bring more entrepreneurs at the marginal level under the loan, the maximum loan limit has been reduced from Tk 75 lakh to Tk 50 lakh.
He also said that to bring the CMSME entrepreneurs affected by Covid-19 under the loan, the loan disbursement policy has been amended at the 123rd meeting of the board of directors chaired by Md. Masudur Rahman, chairperson of SME foundation on September 2, 2021.
It has been proposed to disburse 10 percent of the total disbursed loans to SME cluster entrepreneurs across the country. The target is to lend to 70 percent of entrepreneurs in the manufacturing and services sectors and 30 percent to entrepreneurs in the trading sector. However, for women entrepreneurs, the rate in the trading sector can be up to 40 percent.
Farzana Khan, general manager of the foundation moderated the meeting.
The government, after successfully disbursing Tk 100 crore among the cottage, micro, small and medium (CMSME) entrepreneurs to accelerate the country’s economic recovery and improve the living standards of marginalized people in rural areas in the last fiscal year, has allocated another Tk 200 crore this year.
Entrepreneurs will get loans at 4 percent interest under the incentive package. The loan can be repaid in maximum 24 equal monthly installments on the basis of banker-customer relationship. The concerned bank will take initiative to disburse the loan in favor of the customer by approving the loan within the shortest time of submission to the bank with the required documents.
