Through signing the agreement, Brac Bank became a Participating Financial institution under the 'Supporting Post Covid-19 Small Scale Employment Creation Project' funded Asian Development Bank (ADB), reads a press release.
Nurun Nahar, Executive Director and Project Director, Supporting Post Covid-19 Small Scale Employment Creation Project, Bangladesh Bank; and Selim RF Hussain, Managing Director and CEO of Brac Bank, signed the agreement at Bangladesh Bank Head Office in Dhaka on Wednesday, (25 May).
Abu Farah Md Nasser, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, was present during the signing ceremony.
Jaker Hossain, General Manager for SME & Special Programmes Department at the Bangladesh Bank; and Dongdong Zhang, Principal Financial Sector Specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Syed Abdul Momen, Deputy Managing Director & Head of SME Banking at BRAC Bank, were also present.
Under the agreement, Brac Bank and other participating banks and financial institutions will avail of refinancing facilities amounting to Tk1,290 crore from the Bangladesh Bank and provide subsidised interest credit to the businesses. An entrepreneur can avail of up to Tk50 lakh loan for five years.
Being the leading collateral-free CMSME financer in the country, Brac Bank has always been committed to CMSME sector, which is the lifeblood of the economy and vital to employment generation and invigorating the country's growth engine.
The Bangladesh Bank earlier recognised Brac Bank for its outstanding role in implementing the first phase of Covid-19 CMSME Stimulus Package in FY 2020-2021.
Welcoming the refinancing facility, BRAC Bank Managing Director & CEO Selim RF Hussain said: "We appreciate Bangladesh Bank for making Brac Bank an implementation partner of ADB-funded Supporting Post Covid-19 Small Scale Employment Creation Project.
As a CMSME-focused bank, Brac Bank is committed to ensuring easy access to finance for grassroots entrepreneurs. We have already redoubled our efforts to provide much-needed funds to the CMSME entrepreneurs. We believe this refinancing facility will help the small-scale entrepreneurs recover from the pandemic."