BB extends time for pre-shipment credit refinance

The Bangladesh Bank on Thursday extended the timeframe to three years to lend from the pre-shipment credit refinance to help local exporters continue shipping products after the one-year period expired.

The central bank issued a notice saying a customer would be able to take loans from the fund more than once during these three years. During the one-year tenure, customers were allowed to get loans more than once. 

Bangladesh Bank will refinance the participating banks for a maximum period of 180 days (six months) which will be repayable with interest at the end of the six-month term, the notice said. 

A senior BB official said that customers are not getting loans from the fund as the fund’s term has already expired.

As a result, the fund’s goal to revive the economy and gain momentum in foreign exchange earnings may be hampered, he added.

On April 5, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that the Bangladesh Bank would introduce a new loan facility titled pre-shipment credit refinance scheme involving Tk 5,000 crore for local exporters.

Banks will borrow money from the fund at 3 per cent interest rate and can charge borrowers a maximum 6 per cent.