SMESPD Circular Letter No. 01: Incentive facility for loans & advances provided to women entrepreneurs on CMSME sector

Bangladesh Bank Chief Manager Motijheel, Dhaka-1000 Bangladesh. SMESPD Circular Letter No. 01 Date: Poush 24, 1431 January 08, 2025 Managing Director/Chief Executive All Scheduled Banks and Financial Institutions operating in Bangladesh Regarding: Incentive facility for loans & advances provided to women entrepreneurs on CMSME sector.

1. Reference is drawn to SMESPD Circular No. 08 dated August 17, 2021, SMESPD Circular Letter No. 02 dated June 20, 2022, SMESPD Circular Letter No. 09 dated August 04, 2021, SMESPD Circular Letter No. 06 dated June 25, 2023, and SMESPD Circular Letter No. 07 dated July 26, 2023.

2. Through the aforementioned circulars/letters, it was decided to provide an incentive facility at the rate of 1% to banks and financial institutions and customers to ensure proper utilization of loans/advances disbursed under the 'Reauthorization Scheme for Women Entrepreneurs in the Small Enterprise Sector' from July 01, 2021, to December 31, 2024, with the objective of encouraging timely coordination/repayment/payment.

3. Now, the aforementioned incentive facility will remain in effect for loans/advances disbursed from the scheme, which has been modified, from January 01, 2025, onwards, until further instructions are issued.

4. In addition, other instructions regarding the provision of incentives in the aforementioned circulars and circular letters will remain unchanged.

5. These instructions have been issued under the powers conferred by Section 45 of the Bank Companies Act, 1991 and Section 41 of the Finance Company Act, 2023.

Yours faithfully, (Nawshad Mostafa) Director (SMESPD) Phone: 9530502