There seems to be finally some light at the end of the tunnel for the agriculture sector as the central bank and agriculture ministry have finalised a Tk 5,000 crore rescue package for farmers, rice millers, producers of all agro-products and owners of dairy farms. Since the countrywide shutdown was announced on March 25 with the view to flattening the curve of coronavirus, farmers have been passing sleepless nights as it essentially ruptured the distribution network for fresh produce tipping them towards a pool of losses. With the hope of pulling them out of the pits, the government has prepared the package, which is due to be announced in a day or two. Along with the farmers, businesses and entrepreneurs of the agriculture sector will be allowed to take loans at 5 per cent interest from the packet, said central bank and agriculture ministry officials involved in drawing up the bailout package. A fresh refinance scheme will be constituted with the Bangladesh Bank’s own funds to implement the package. Banks will take funds from the scheme at 2 per cent interest and disburse them at 5 per cent interest. The borrowers will get the loans as working capital, with repayment duration being 18 months, including a six-month grace period. Farmers’ income source has now completely stopped due to the ongoing shutdown as most of them usually get by on daily earnings, said an agriculture ministry official requesting anonymity. Besides, the central bank is working on slashing the interest rate on farm loans by 2 percentage points to 7 per cent. The BB has set a farm loan disbursement target of Tk 24,124 crore for fiscal 2019-20. Every bank will have to disburse 2.5 per cent of their total loans per year to farmers. But the amount the banks will disburse from the refinance scheme will not count towards their annual farm loan target, according to BB officials.
