Farm lending to be more generous

There is more to the basket of generous concessions or new year gift packages, if you like. The micro-credit NGOs giving loans through Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation are required to lower their interest rates from 15 to 12 percent. Should they fail to do so, the government will stop financing such NGOs, Saifur Rahman warned.

In fact, the NGO sector may find themselves under an increasing pressure to soften the terms of lending to the small and marginal farmers. We believe, there is room and, indeed a need, for reducing lending rates across the board, with a special emphasis on farm loans. But the rationale for concessionary lending should strike a balance with the concerns of financial discipline, the financial health of the lending organisations, and above all, the productivity of the farmers. We have written off outstanding loans of five or more years' duration unburdening some big defaulters. Now, the interest on agriculture loan upto Tk 5,000 is being waived to benefit 15 lakh farmers. The total impact of these steps on the economy will have to be assessed. We have been supportive of the interest waiver for the small and marginal farmers adding that the principal amount must be recovered in 12 monthly installments as prescribed for the sake of financial discipline. Small farmers, need we remind ourselves, have been more particular in terms of loan repayment than medium or large farmers. So, that's the benchmark for discipline we need to uphold.

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