Dhaka — In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Bangladesh Bank increased the loan limit for customers purchasing digital devices such as laptops, smartphones, computers, and tablets.
The bank will now lend up to 70% of the total cost of these products. This limit has previously been set at 30%. This move is likely to facilitate online learning activities in Bangladesh, which is currently battling a pandemic.
On Monday, the Bangladesh Bank's Banking Regulation and Policy Division issued instructions to the country's financial institutions requesting that they increase the limit.
According to the central bank, almost all educational institutions are now conducting education via online classes as a result of the outbreak of the corona pandemic, resulting in an increased reliance on digital technologies and devices.
As part of implementing the government's vision of a ‘Digital Bangladesh,' funding for the ICT sector is being encouraged at the grassroots level to ensure the availability of reliable digital access and the development of IT-savvy human resources, the central bank stated.
“With these considerations in mind, the existing loan-margin ratio can be increased to 70:30 from 30:70 when disbursing consumer loans for the purchase of digital devices (laptops, mobile phones, computers, tablets, etc. ),” the Bangladesh Bank said.
This means that individuals will be able to obtain a mobile phone or a laptop through a bank loan. For example, if the mobile phone costs 10,000 taka, the bank can lend the customer 7,000 taka. Until now, the bank could only lend a maximum of three thousand taka on a ten thousand taka mobile phone.
Additionally, the circular states that all other provisions of the 2004 Consumer Finance Regulation will remain unchanged. This instruction takes immediate effect and will remain in effect until further instructions are issued.
