Bangladesh banks reluctant to finance SMEs operated by women, says IFC study

Banks in Bangladesh are less interest to finance SMEs run by women entrepreneurs, says a study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group, which focuses on the private sector in developing countries.
 
In its study 'Women SME entrepreneurs in Bangladesh', launched on Wednesday, it said banks and financial institutions have failed to meet 60 percent of the demand of women entrepreneurs.
 
Only five percent of the loans given to female-run SMEs have been covered by the state-run banks-- Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali--while 83 percent of it came from private banks.
 
The contribution of foreign banks operating in Bangladesh is one percent while the remaining two percent came from specialised banks.
 
The study says the annual demand for finance requirement is $1.29 billion but the supply is only $510 million.