According to sources at the central bank, the existing SME credit policy focuses on promotion of women entrepreneurs.
The policy says at least 10 percent of the total SME loans is mandatory for female entrepreneurs. The service sector comes next.
The SME credit policy lacks any special focus on the manufacturing sector as there is no the credit limit defined in the policy to promote the sector, said the officials.
The central bank’s policy is likely to see a major change with shifting its highest focus on the manufacturing sector, they said.
General Manager of Bangladesh Bank’s SME and Special Programme Department Masum Pawari explained to UNB why the shift is being changed.
He said if any credit to manufacturing sector will benefit a lot of people. Employment generation is one of the major benefits, he said.
Some of the manufacturing sectors are import substitutes with good potentials to turn into an export-oriented sector, said the officials.
Bangladesh Bank’s SME and Special Programme Department set a disbursement of Tk 89031 crore in the SME sector by the banks during 2014.