FisheriesWith too few hilsa in the Bay, fishers, trawler owners and traders in Sarankhola and along the Bagerhat coast owe lakhs of taka, and the 22-day fishing ban has added to the strain.
Agro-processing entrepreneurs at BAPA Foodpro 2026 demanded easier credit, while a Bangladesh Bank official said two-thirds of the funds set aside for them lie unused.
Bangladesh Bank has cut the interest rate on its Tk 3,000 crore refinance fund for an agro-based special economic hub in North Bengal, capping customer rates at 7 per cent.
Deposits in no-frills accounts for low-income people rose between March and June, but farmers' deposits in these accounts fell by 10.35 per cent, Bangladesh Bank data show.
Bangladesh Bank has signed agreements with seven banks to begin lending from a Tk 41,000 crore financing package built from banks' surplus liquidity to boost production, investment and jobs.
Bangladesh Bank has set up a Tk 10,000 crore refinancing scheme to lend to farmers and rural income-generating activities at 8 per cent interest, with collateral-free loans of up to Tk 5 lakh for small, marginal and tenant farmers.
In its first 180 days the government re-excavated 475.61 km of canals, built a database of about 1.25 million farmers and began distributing farmer cards.
Under Bangladesh Bank's new policy, banks must lend at least 4 percent of their total loans to agriculture, up from 2.5 percent, with a Tk 60,000 crore target for 2026-27.
Bangladesh Bank has raised its agricultural and rural credit target for 2026-27 to Tk 60,000 crore and told banks to make sure the money reaches genuine and marginal farmers.
Banks and financial institutions cut lending to green projects and sustainable agriculture in January-March, even as total sustainable finance rose.
A severe shortage of golda prawn post-larvae after a ban on wild-caught and Indian fry has left Bagerhat's shrimp farmers unable to stock their ghers.
Haor farmers in Sunamganj borrow from moneylenders at high interest to grow boro, saying bank loans bring harassment, while the bank says none need face it.
Dadon advances and loans are the bane of more than a million fishermen in 19 coastal districts, and the debts pass to their families even after they die.
