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The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is reported to have been holding talks with the central bank to find a suitable mechanism of giving collateral-free loans up to Tk 2.5 million to the women entrepreneurs.
It is, no doubt, a good gesture for those women who are willing to make a mark in the country's business arena. So far, some women could become entrepreneurs under compulsion due to many reasons that include divorce, widowhood etc.
There are other problems too for the women to be successful entrepreneurs at ease. Before giving loans, the lenders generally ask them about their husbands' identity for various purposes. Such a practice does not augur well for them.
Statistics show the rate of loan default cases is minimal among the women borrowers. This has encouraged the NBR to initiate steps to ease doing business by woman entrepreneurs. The government appears to be very positive in ensuring more facilities to women entrepreneurs in the next budget due to their relatively lower loan default rate. Earlier, the women's chamber body proposed raising the tax-free ceiling for women taxpayers to Tk 400,000 from the existing Tk 300,000 from the next fiscal year.
The government is also planning to give more tax holiday facilities to women entrepreneurs for three years since start-up. It is expected to continue allocation of Tk 1.0 billion fund like in the previous budget to create a new generation of women entrepreneurs.
Social barriers and a lack of access to finance -- the two big obstacles for women to become entrepreneurs, have, in the meantime, eased somewhat in the last 8-9 years. A recent survey says social norms and attitude towards women becoming entrepreneurs have improved between 2009 and 2017. It says women face social and family problems just because they are women. It is difficult to solve these problems overnight, it said.
The women entrepreneurs are still dependent on their families and husbands to run their businesses. But urban women appear to have higher capacity to run businesses individually compared to rural entrepreneurs. The dependency is higher in case of raw material collection and marketing of the product.
Many female entrepreneurs say the current SME loan amount is inadequate. About 39 per cent of female entrepreneurs complained about high interest rate and 35 per cent about insufficient credit limit. They also face problems in accessing finance. The constraints include finding suitable guarantors, high interest rates, lack of proper information regarding the rules of loans, higher service charge, and at times non-cooperation by banks.
It was found that some commercial banks ask for collateral from women entrepreneurs even for a loan amount less than Tk 2.5 million, which is contradictory to the BB regulation. Many banks ask for guarantee from a male member of the family and sometimes a female entrepreneur fails to get loans if her husband is a loan defaulter.
In the circumstances, there is a need for a more gender-neutral credit programme and adequate amount of loans for women entrepreneurs along with a grace period for repayment.
Majority of women entrepreneurs in the country are unable to get loans from financial organisations due to lack of information and other challenges to start their own business. They also face many other challenges including social taboos, lack of capital, inadequate training opportunities, poor communication skill and harassment in various forms.
About 50 per cent of the country's population is women. The country's economic development is not possible without their participation. By becoming a successful entrepreneur, a woman not only achieves solvency but also gets empowered in the society. Creativity, commitment and confidence are essential qualities of an entrepreneur which women must acquire to be efficient entrepreneurs and be prepared to take risks.
To become a successful entrepreneur, women must have dream, determination and dedication. It is also essential for them to keep themselves conversant and updated on the global business scenario.