Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today pressed the need to bring down bank loan interest rate to single digit in order to boost businesses.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Ceramic Expo Bangladesh 2019 at the International Convention City in the capital’s Bashundhara, the minister said, people cannot do business when interest rates are between 12 and 14 percent.

“If interest rate does not come down to a single digit, then NPL (non-performing loan) will go up,” he said.    

The minister mentioned that the difference between deposit and lending rates in the country is very high compared to other places in the world.

“There is maximum difference of three to four percent elsewhere in the world,” he said, referring to the gap between deposit and lending rates.

The banking sector enjoys a lot of benefits from the government but they are not reducing the bank loan interest rate, he added.