Startup Fund Bangladesh Bank

Details: Entrepreneurs aged between 21 to 45 will be able to borrow up to BDT 10 million with 4% interest from the fund.

• The term of the loan is 5 years and installments can be repaid every three or six months.

• The maximum grace period for the loan will be one year.

• Women entrepreneurs: 10% of the fund will be allocated to women entrepreneurs.

• The fund will be constituted in the form of a refinance scheme — banks will first disburse loans to clients and the central bank will later reimburse the fund to banks. The scheduled banks will set up their own startup funds with 1% of their profit for the next 5 years. This will result in the formation of two funds: one is by the central bank and another is their own funds of scheduled banks. The model is similar to several refinancing schemes the Bangladesh Bank created in the past.

• For 2021, the scheduled banks will be able to provide loans from both of the funds. Banks will have to create a separate policy for their own funds approved by the board of directors of the banks.