The New Nation - Internet Edition

ECONOMIC REPORTER

City Bank yesterday launched CityBizness--a new and revamped business line through which small, medium and women entrepreneurs will get loans ranging from Tk 5 lakh to Tk 40 lakh easily at low interest rates.

An entrepreneur with a maximum annual sales volume of

Tk 25 crore will be eligible to apply and avail loan facilities from City Bank under three different loan packages.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of City Bank Kazi Mahmood Sattar announced the launching of brand new CityBizness service while addressing a press conference at a hotel in the city yesterday.

Sohail RK Hussain, Deputy Managing Director (Business), B Choudhury, Head of SME Banking and Raihan Ul Ameen, Deputy Managing Director (Operations) also spoke at the press conference.

Mahmood Sattar said CityBizness with its innovative and appropriate services and deposit-cum-loan products would help take the SMEs of the economy to the next level.

He said CityBizness comprises City Shulov, City Muldhan and City Sheba--three new cluster-loan products very specially designed to meet the underlying financing needs of SMEs. As a result, entrepreneurs would not need to go to a second bank.

City Shulov is for small enterprises, particularly for those who are engaged in manufacturing sub-segment of the economy, while City Muldhan is for traders and City Sheba is for those who are adding value to service sector.

An entrepreneur will have to pay 17 per cent interest annually for loans under City Shulov and City Muldhan loan packages, while 16.5 per cent interest will have to pay annually for loans under City Sheba loan package.

Mahmood Sattar also mentioned that City Bank opened two new CityBizness Centres at Motijheel and Gulshan yesterday to serve both small and medium entrepreneurs under its centralised model of doing business for all segments of clientele base.

City Bank is going to open 13 more such centres across the country this year. In addition, the bank will also open five SME-NRB Centres by the end of this year in places where bank's branch network is not present to serve SMEs. Besides, these centers will serve the NRBs' (Non-Resident Bangladeshis) remittance beneficiaries as per guidelines of the central bank.

The centres will be managed by the City Bank's SME Division from the Head Office so that the entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises can do business smoothly.