Governor of Bangladesh Bank Atiur Rahman on Thursday asked banks and financial institutions to finance environment-friendly industrial infrastructures. He said the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) Cell of the central bank, backed by the World Bank (WB), has been providing financial and technical assistances to infrastructural projects in the private sector. The banks and financial institutions should play a major role for the proper disbursement of the IPFF to entrepreneurs, he said. The governor was addressing a function marking the signing of an agreement to help Sigma Engineers Ltd. with Tk 8.17 crore to build a central effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Comilla EPZ. If CETPs are gradually set up at all the EPZs in the country, IPFF will also be able to finance them, he said. IPFF has already completed first phase of its operation by disbursing 100% of its credit line (on-lending component) to seven small power plants through different banks and financial institutions contributing 178MW of electricity to national grid, according to BB website. So far, Tk 28.68 crore million has been disbursed in the second phase of IPFF, of which Tk 10 crore has been disbursed to a CETP established in Chittagong EPZ. – UNB
