Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said the government is implementing an action plan to meet at least 40 per cent of demand for edible oil locally as local oil production now hovers at only 2 lakh tonnes although our annual demand is 20 lakh tonnes.

“The Agriculture Ministry is implementing some sort of definite action plan to meet 40 per cent edible oil demand locally in next 3-4 years”, said the minister.

The agriculture minister came up with the expectation while addressing a seminar at a city hotel on Sunday morning.

Bangladeshis consume 20 lakh tonnes of edible oil a year, while the local production hovers around only around 2 lakh tonnes.

Expressing his grave concern over agricultural credit, Razzaque, also an Awami League praesidium member, said the government is now providing credit to the farmers with 4 per cent interest.  He said that in most cases, the farmers face difficulties in fulfilling terms and conditions in getting loans.

Krishi Bank Managing Director Ismail Hossain, Media personality Shaikh Siraj, Financial Institutions Division Additional Secretary Abdullah Harun Pasha, Krishibid Awlad Hossen, Dhaka University Banking and Insurance Division Prof Hasina Sheikh, former managing director of Bank Asia Arfan Ali, Managing Director of Bangladesh Finance Kaiser Hamid, among others, spoke on the occasion.

On the requirement of insurance for the livestock sector, the minister said “Insurance is very much needed for the livestock.”

Reiterating the importance of financial inclusion, credit and investment in the livestock sector, the discussants said the perspective of the Bankers should be changed in case of farm credit disbursement as most of the banks so far did not open their branches at the rural level.

On the other hand, micro-financial institutions (MFIs) and NGOs usually disburse credit with a 20-25 per cent high-interest rate in rural areas after taking less interest rate funds from the Bangladesh Bank.