The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide about US$50 million to the Bangladeshi government-sponsored small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development programme.
A high-powered delegation from the ADB is currently on a visit to evaluate different aspects of the programme.
The government has finalised a full-fledged industrial policy envisaging a separate one for SMEs following the suggestions of ADB and some donors.
During the meeting with the finance ministry officials, the ADB team proposed that US$30 million should be used as an SME refinancing fund through Bangladesh Bank and US$15 million would be channelled through commercial banks or specialised banks.
Another US$5 million may be used for capacity development of SME projects. This aims at developing SME-related facilities.
There are about 27,000 SMEs in the country, which contribute a major share to manufacturing employment and exports.
