Salt farmers to get max Tk 1.53 lakh low-cost loan per acre

Bangladesh Bank has asked scheduled banks to provide salt farmers in the coastal belt with loans at a subsidised rate of 4 percent during the farming season — from May to November.

A salt farmer will get at best Tk 153,500 per acre, said BB in a circular issued on Sunday. The amount of loan per acre has been fixed considering the rental cost of land, purchasing of polythene and the dam construction.

The central bank also said small and marginal farmers and sharecroppers are also entitled to this loan, but they have to be certified by local representatives and dignitaries.

Borrowers have to pay back in 12 months since taking the loans, according to the new circular. And, the BB will compensate the respective banks with the subsidised (4%) interest rate within one month of recovering the loans.

Earlier the central bank had given loans to salt farmers at a subsidised rate, but it never set the ceiling of the loan per acre.