Banks to lend Tk433 crore to tannery owners

Banks will provide Tk433 crore loans to tannery owners for purchasing rawhide after Eid-ul-Azha, the busiest rawhide collection season in the country.

Of these loans, four state-owned banks (Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali) will provide Tk 258 crore.

Janata Bank Limited has set a target of providing the highest amount of Tk 120 crore. Last year, the same amount of loans was planned to be distributed, but finally Janata Bank disbursed Tk 40 crore only.

According to Bangladesh Bank, the tannery owners will get bank loans of Tk 433 crore to buy raw hides. A portion of this loan has already been disbursed, the central bank sources said.

This year, Rupali Bank is giving loans of Tk 30 crore, Agrani Bank Tk 83 crore and Sonali Bank Tk 25 crore. After disbursing loans in the leather sector in the 90s, most of them were not repaid. Private banks then stopped giving loans for this sector due to the non-repayment culture of tannery owners.