Following a recent visit to Bangladesh, Peter Mulroy Deputy Director General of Factors Chain International, reports on the challenges faced by local businesses supported by factoring companies which are unregulated and banks that seldom finance open account trade transactions… |
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has expressed unhappiness over the Bangladesh Bank's (BB) failure to start loan disbursement to banks and financial institutions to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs) even after two months of the scheduled date, sources have said.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing US$55 million in a loan and trade guarantee to Bangladesh's The City Bank to help it meet the short-term foreign exchange requirements of its SME clients in the wake of a foreign-currency liquidity squeeze.
The German investment and development company, DEG, has extended a loan of USD 20 million to Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) through its Offshore Banking Unit.
Two-thirds of loans given to SMEs in Bangladesh are used in trading, which analysts say is a threat to sustainable economic growth.