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Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) will receive Tk 5.0 billion (500 crore) in loan under the Bangladesh Bank (BB) refinancing scheme to facilitate its lending operation, officials said.
The specialised bank will take the short-term loan in November next at an interest rate of 5.0 per cent (bank rate). There is no grace period for the refinancing loan.
The bank has sought a guarantee against the refinancing loan from the government recently.
"We have received a letter from the RAKUB seeking a guarantee. We are working on the issue," an official concerned of the finance ministry told the FE on Thursday.
The specialised bank has set a target to disburse Tk 22 billion in loans for poverty alleviation and agriculture production for the current fiscal year (FY).
Disbursement of farm loans by the bank exceeded their target at the end of last fiscal year (FY).
The total target was fixed at Tk 19.50 billion for FY 2017-18. It disbursed Tk 20.50 billion in loans in the fiscal year.
Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions characterised by the surplus food grain production are popularly called the "granary of the country".
The bank disburses 60 per cent of of its total loan portfolio to the country's agriculture production sector.
As the largest development partner in agriculture of the northwest region, the RAKUB aims to aid the overall development of farmers and all the sectors and sub-sectors of agriculture in this region.
From June 30, 2003 to FY 2016-17, the government gave guarantees against over Tk 43.82 billion.
The authorized capital of the bank as determined by the government amounts to Tk 10,000 million and paid-up capital Tk 7,000 million.
There are 379 branches of the bank including the LPO and Dhaka branch. Of them, 193 are in Rajshahi and 184 in Rangpur division.
The number of rural branches are 310. It has 69 urban branches. The RAKUB head office is located in Rajshahi.