Bangladesh’s banking and financial sector posted a 40% year-on-year jump in loan disbursements to the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) in 2021 due to rising demand for credits amid increased economic activities. Banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) disbursed Tk2,158 billion in loans to CMSMEs last year compared to Tk1,535 billion during 2020. The corresponding figure was Tk1,6,80 billion in 2019. Though the volume of loans disbursed last year to the CMSMEs was quite good, a large number of banks are still not interested in improving their CMSME loan portfolio as such loans are not profitable at a single-digit interest rate.
