Published : 23 Aug 2026, 05:27 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:35 AM
Nearly half of rural families turn to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to meet their financial needs, a new study has found.
Only 5.37 percent of families get loans from banks and non-bank financial institutions.
The findings come from the Comprehensive Rural Finance Study (CRFS).
The Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), a non-government organisation, conducted the study with support from Bangladesh Bank.
The findings were formally unveiled at Lakeshore Grand Hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan on Saturday.
InM Executive Director Mustafa K Mujeri led the three-year study.
The research assessed the financial situation, access to services and financial behaviour of rural families and institutions.
It produced 22 reports in total, including a rural finance survey, policy papers, policy briefs and background reports.
Under the country's first such rural finance survey, researchers collected data from 2,643 families across 33 districts in eight divisions, with 7,041 people taking part.
The survey found that 45.78 percent of rural families receive no formal loans, from banks, financial institutions or microcredit organisations.
Around 30 percent borrow from informal sources such as moneylenders or relatives.
Among formal lending sources, 48.51 percent of families access loans through microcredit institutions.
Only 5.37 percent of families secured agricultural or non-agricultural loans from banks and non-bank financial institutions.
The report attributes microcredit's wide rural reach to quick, collateral-free lending.
Families still turn to informal loans despite high interest rates, driven by urgent cash needs and emergencies.
District-level data revealed stark disparities in access to credit.
Only 19 percent of families in Bandarban have access to formal loans, against 68 percent in Netrokona.
The survey found 58 percent of rural families have access to formal savings services, while only 17 percent have insurance coverage.
Speaking at the event, Mujeri said the study drew on extensive quantitative and qualitative field research, alongside secondary data.
It covered both traditional and digital financial services, spanning credit, savings, payments and insurance.
Expanding affordable savings, credit and insurance services through MFIs and digital financial platforms would strengthen financial inclusion and boost rural families' financial resilience, he added.
Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Md Habibur Rahman said at the event, "We have many publications, but a publication on rural finance was missing.
“This study has tried to fill that gap. It will serve as a data repository to help shape policies that strengthen the rural economy.
"To ensure the quality of the information in the report, our team went to the field level and cross-checked the data. For anyone interested in rural studies, this is a landmark data repository."
