BB increases credit limit by Tk 5cr for each cinema hall

The Bangladesh Bank on Thursday increased the loan limit for a single borrower to Tk 10 crore for renovation and modernisation of cinema halls.

The loans will be given from the Tk 1,000 crore refinance scheme to revive the glory of cinema halls.

Before this move, each borrower could get a maximum of Tk 5 crore from the refinance scheme against a single cinema hall.

The Bangladesh Bank in February this year declared a Tk 1,000 crore refinancing scheme for renovation and modernisation of cinema halls.

The development came after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council on August 26 last year directed the authorities concerned to give loans to cinema hall owners to reopen closed down movie theatres and also for renovating the existing halls and build new ones. Subsequently, the central bank’s board meeting on January 26 this year approved the refinance scheme.

The scheme will allow hall owners to get long-term loans at a low-interest rate for renovation and modernisation of their structures.

As per the scheme rules, the cinema hall owners in metropolitan areas will get loans from the fund at 5 per cent interest and those outside of the metropolitan areas at 4.5 per cent interest.

To get loans from the scheme, a cinema hall or cineplex must have a minimum of 100 seats.

The loans can be availed for renovating existing cinema halls that are dilapidated as well as for purchasing relevant equipment/machinery and other theatre-related expenditure.

The borrowers would get eight years to repay the loans, including a year’s grace period. They will also be able to repay their equated instalments once every three months.