‘Increase lending in remote areas to promote financial inclusion’

Business Report :

Lending by banks should expand in remote areas to reduce financial inequality across Bangladesh, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Ahsan H Mansur on Monday.

“Similar to past political centralisation, we’ve also seen a concentration in the financial sector,” Mansur said at the “3rd Bangladesh Economic Summit 2024: Inequality, Financial Crimes, and Healing Bangladesh’s Economy,” held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.

He said that some 59 percent of bank loans are disbursed in Dhaka and 17 percent in Chattogram, with the remainder spread across the country.

He urged banks to increase lending in remote areas to promote financial inclusion and reduce inequality in access to financial resources.

Regarding recent policy rate hikes, Mansur said that Bangladesh’s current macroeconomic challenges require this measure to curb high inflation and stabilise the economy.