18,500 young people from 8 districts want loans to become entrepreneurs

18,500 young people from 8 districts of the country have applied to various banks for funding to become entrepreneurs. Bangladesh Bank has formed a fund of Tk 500 crore to provide collateral-free financing facilities to develop the youth of the country as entrepreneurs. For this, the Central Bank has also undertaken a project called 'Upazila-based Young Entrepreneur Search, Identification and Financing Program' (Udyog).

To provide financing under this project, applications were accepted experimentally in 8 districts of 8 divisions of the country from last September 16 to October 15. The districts are Netrakona, Rangpur, Naogaon, Jhenaidah, Habiganj, Bhola, Manikganj and Feni. Among these districts maximum 5 thousand 351 applications have been submitted from Netrakona. After that, the second highest number of applications was received in Rangpur, 2 thousand 745. Apart from this, 2 thousand 456 youths of Naogaon, 2 thousand 191 youths of Jhenaidah, 1 thousand 552 youths of Habiganj, 1 thousand 545 youths of Bhola, 1 thousand 343 youths of Manikganj and 1 thousand 261 youths of Feni have applied for unsecured loan facility from the fund formed by Bangladesh Bank.

According to Central Bank sources, after receiving a huge response from the 8 districts which were launched on an experimental basis, the Central Bank is now planning to collect applications from interested young entrepreneurs across the country. Under this, the youth of other districts outside the 8 districts can apply from November 1 to 30.

According to sources related to Bangladesh Bank, 5 thousand 30 young entrepreneurs of 503 upazilas of the country will be financed from the funds formed by the Central Bank. Youngsters who are interested in getting the financial benefits of this fund can submit the application at any bank branch of their respective upazilas. Bangladesh Bank will give Tk 250 crore to this fund of Tk 500 crore. And partner commercial banks will give Tk 250 crores. Each entrepreneur will get Tk 10 to 20 lakh under the fund. A part of this will be given as grant and the rest will be given as loan at 4 to 7 percent interest.

According to Bangladesh Bank, the applicant has to fulfill certain conditions in the existing laws of the country to get financing from the fund. Candidate age should be maximum 28 years as on last date of receipt of application. A youth who has previously taken a loan from a bank or financial institution cannot apply for financing from the fund. Besides, defaulters or employees working in government, semi-government and autonomous organizations will not get the fund facility. Youth in agro-based industries, food processing, handicrafts, fisheries, animal husbandry, tourism, light engineering and renewable energy sectors will be covered under this facility. Apart from this, technology-based startups including e-commerce, fintech, edtech, agritech, healthtech and any income-generating legitimate venture will also be financed from the fund.