78% of country's total loans concentrated in Dhaka

A study by the Policy Research Institute (PRI) states that nearly 78 percent of the country's total loans are concentrated in Dhaka and Chattogram alone. As a result, regional disparity is increasing and small and medium enterprises are lagging behind. While 62.95 percent of loans go to Dhaka and 15.45 percent to Chattogram, many districts receive almost no loans at all. According to researchers, this excessive concentration is reducing new business and employment opportunities and hindering industrialization. They believe that sustainable development is not possible without decentralization.

These main findings of the research were highlighted yesterday, Thursday (September 25), while presenting a paper titled "Is development possible in Bangladesh without decentralization?" at the PRI conference room in the capital.