BB raises pre-shipment credit fund to Tk 7,000cr

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has increased the size of its Pre-Shipment Credit Refinance Scheme to Tk 7,000 crore from Tk 5,000 crore to facilitate low-cost financing for exporters.

The central bank issued a circular in this regard on Thursday, directing the chief executives of all scheduled banks to implement the revised arrangements.

Under the new decision, BB will transfer an additional Tk 2,000 crore from the Export Facilitation Pre-finance Fund (EFPF) to the pre-shipment credit scheme.

Following the reallocation, the size of the EFPF has been reduced to Tk 3,000 crore from its original Tk 10,000 crore.

According to the circular, exporters will receive loans under the scheme at an interest rate of up to 6 percent per annum, while participating financial institutions (PFIs) will pay 3 percent interest to Bangladesh Bank for refinancing facilities.

The central bank has also stipulated that any participating financial institution failing to repay the refinanced amount within the prescribed period will have to pay interest at the prevailing bank rate for the actual period of default.

The circular allows participating financial institutions to repay the refinance facility before maturity or make partial repayments.

The latest measures have been issued under Section 45 of the Bank Company Act, 1991, and have come into effect immediately.

All other instructions issued under BRPD Circular No. 08/2022 and BRPD-1 Circular Letter No. 12/2026 will remain unchanged, the circular said.