Bank Asia signs deals with SME Foundation to ease financing

Bank Asia PLC has signed two agreements with SME Foundation to provide small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs with easier access to financing on affordable terms.

ANM Mahfuz, additional managing director of Bank Asia PLC, and Anwar Hossain Chowdhury, managing director of SME Foundation, signed the agreements in Dhaka recently, according to a press release.

Under the SME Foundation’s refinance fund through the Credit Wholesaling Programme, entrepreneurs will be able to avail loans at an interest rate of 8 percent.

Under another programme supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency through Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited, SME entrepreneurs will be able to access loans at an interest rate of 9 percent.

Khandakar Abdul Muktadir, minister for industries, commerce, and textiles and jute, attended the event as the chief guest. Md Obaidur Rahman, chairman of SME Foundation and secretary of the Ministry of Industries, presided over the programme.

Under the Credit Wholesaling Fund agreement, financing facilities will be extended at concessional rates to SME entrepreneurs across the country, including those in production sectors, clusters, and women-led enterprises.

Under the JICA-supported fund agreement, loans and investment facilities will also be provided to entrepreneurs in agro-based industries and the food processing sector.

The agreements aim to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth by enhancing access to finance for SME entrepreneurs.

Nurun Nahar, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank; Nasreen Fatema Awal; Md Nazim Hasan Sattar; Suman Chandra Saha; and Mohammad Saifuddowla, head of the small business division at Bank Asia PLC, along with managing directors and representatives from 15 banks and financial institutions, were also present.