Bangladesh Bank and BRAC Bank have signed an agreement to provide refinancing facilities to the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) under Covid-19 Stimulus Package to help small businesses recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Md. Abdul Wahab, General Manager, Project Implementation Unit (Covid-19 ECRF), SME & Special Programmes Department of Bangladesh Bank and Selim R. F. Hussain, Managing Director & CEO of BRAC Bank, signed the agreement at Bangladesh Bank recently.
Abu Farah Md. Nasser, Deputy Governor, Bangladesh Bank, was present during the signing ceremony. Md. Obaidul Hoque, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank and Syed Abdul Momen, Deputy Managing Director and Head of SME Banking, BRAC Bank, were also present.
Under the agreement, BRAC Bank and other participating banks will avail refinancing facilities amounting to BDT 25.20 billion from Bangladesh Bank and provide subsidised interest credit to the CMSMEs.
Bangladesh Bank earlier recognized BRAC Bank for its outstanding role in the implementation of the first phase of Covid-19 CMSME Stimulus Package in FY 2020-2021. In two phases of the Stimulus Package, BRAC Bank has disbursed BDT 2,669 Crore to the CMSMEs, which is the highest in the banking industry. The bank’s extensive SME network and large team enabled the bank to meet the highest target in stimulus loan disbursement.
Welcoming the refinancing facility, Selim R. F. Hussain, Managing Director & CEO of BRAC Bank, said: "We appreciate Bangladesh Bank for making BRAC Bank an implementation partner of AIIB funded COVID-19 Emergency and Crisis Response Facility Project. As aCMSME-focused bank, BRAC Bank is committed to ensuring easy access to finance for the entrepreneurs at the grassroots. In view of the pandemic, we have redoubled our efforts to provide much-needed funds to the CMSME entrepreneurs. We believe this refinancing facility from Bangladesh Bank will rejuvenate the industries and help them take productivity to the pre-pandemic level.”
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