SMEs get only 33% of required loan

The entrepreneurs of the country's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) receive loans for only 33% of their demand, said the SME Foundation.

In addition, rural entrepreneurs receive only 19% of the total disbursed loans in this sector, the organisation said at a national seminar at Agargaon of the capital on Monday.

According to the SME Foundation, small and medium entrepreneurs suffered the most in the Covid-19 pandemic as 94% of the businesses witnessed a decline in sales, and 21% were shut down.

At the seminar titled "Rethinking MSME Finance: A Post-Crisis Policy Agenda" organised by SME Foundation and UNESCAP, SME Foundation Managing Director Md Mafizur Rahman said, "Research done by various public and private organisations had shown that 37% of the workers in these small and medium companies had lost their jobs, and 70% were at risk of losing their jobs."

Around 83% of the companies are facing losses, and 33% have not been able to repay the loan instalments, he said.

"Therefore, to overcome the losses of small and medium enterprises, it is necessary to increase the amount of incentive package from the government. If the incentive package is not renewed, it is necessary to provide financing for them on easy terms," Mafizur Rahman said.

As chief guest, Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana said, "The SME sector contributes 85% of the employment in the industrial sector of the country. The SME Foundation is working on the development of the SME sector to increase its contribution to the country's economy."

SME Foundation Chairperson Md Masudur Rahman said, "SME entrepreneurs need easy loans to offset the loss of the pandemic. Digital services can be introduced to make it easier for entrepreneurs to get loans."

Presenting the keynote, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management's associate professor Musharraf Hossain said, "Of the 81 lakh SMEs in the country, 58 lakh (around 70%) are outside the urban areas but urban entrepreneurs receive 81% of the SME loans. Meanwhile, women entrepreneurs get only 6% of the total loan."

In the context of the pandemic, the seminar was organised to seek the views and recommendations of experts on bringing small and medium entrepreneurs under easy loans through the development and expansion of technology (digital financing and fin-tech).

In the future, UNESCAP will take necessary programmes and strategies in Bangladesh based on the feedback and recommendations received.

The seminar was attended by senior representatives of the Economic Relations Division, Bangladesh Bank, commercial banks and financial institutions, SME entrepreneurs, researchers and academics, and media representatives.

Three papers on SME financing were presented at the seminar, one by a Bangladeshi researcher and the other two by researchers from the United States and Germany.