The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country's central bank yesterday asked commercial banks and financial institutions to provide fresh loans on an emergency basis to the poultry farms owners affected by the bird flu, said officials in the city yesterday.

"This is to help overcome the affect of avian influenza on the rural economy," said the BB Governor Salehuddin Ahmed, expressing his hope that the bankers would realise the importance of enhanced lending.

The central bank advised the banks and non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) to provide fresh credit to the bird flu- affected poultry farms, charging nominal interest rates, he said.

The central bank of Bangladesh also asked the banks and NBFIs to consider suspension of recovery of the principal amount of loans for a period of one year and interest thereof for six months.

The BB in the circular, issued yesterday, asked the chief executives of all scheduled banks, non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) and Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Limited (BSBL) to follow the new instructions for providing fresh credit to the poultry industry, they added.

At least 40 per cent of the country's 150,000 poultry farms faced closure in the recent months following the outbreak of the H5N1 strain bird flu, according to the Bangladesh Poultry Association.

The country's poultry industry is one of the world's largest, producing 220 million chickens and 37 million ducks annually. But nearly half of the chickens, however, are raised in the backyards.