The impact of credit flow on the price situation should, however, not be assessed only by its volume of expansion, in absolute terms. For all practical purposes, the use of credit and its sectoral disbursement pattern do also deserve a critical scrutiny. The monetary policy has to support economic growth, besides helping to maintain price stability. Credit is one critical input for supporting growth and spurring economic activities. To play effectively its growth-supporting role, credit has to be made available up to the required amounts, especially to underserved but potential sectors like agriculture, industry, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) etc. While overexpansion of credit or its diversion to unproductive and wasteful uses and speculative purposes have to be discouraged to help contain inflationary pressures. Management of credit-related activities by the scheduled banks under proper monitoring arrangements by the central bank, has also to be improved. Under the prevailing situation in Bangladesh, the latter is, perhaps, more important than putting blanket restrictions on credit flows.
In this context, it is heartening to note that the use of credit and the sectoral pattern of its flows showed some welcome features in the last fiscal, notwithstanding the fact that bank credit to the private sector overshot the annual projected target then in a situation where there was also reportedly diversion of sizeable credit funds to speculative purposes like trading in stock market, real estate etc., particularly in the first half of the last fiscal. The aggregate volume of private sector stood at Tk. 699.51 billion at the close of the last fiscal, showing a net growth of about 26%, coming on top of a 24.24% increase of such credits in the previous fiscal. However, the use of credit in private sector in fiscal 2010-2011 was, on the whole, reported to be somewhat more balanced than before; a substantial quantum of new credit flows had gone to growth-supporting sectors like agriculture, import of capital machinery, raw materials and spares, trading activities and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Increased credit flow to the private sector paid dividends by helping increase aggregate output of goods and services. This was reflected in the growth rate of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 6.7 per cent, surpassing the 6.1 per cent growth rate of the previous fiscal. The latest economic review by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), Dhaka, does also corroborate this, particularly about the links between monetary policy and growth performance of the economy in fiscal 2010-2011.
Against this backdrop, the BB should be vigilant and monitor properly the monetary and credit developments on a continuous basis throughout the current fiscal. Unwarranted credit restrictions must not hamstring productive activities in the private sector. Otherwise, such restrictions may stifle growth. The central bank must also remain pro-active on striking a delicate balance between the needs for supporting growth and stabilising the macro-economy, particularly through abatement of inflationary pressure. Furthermore, credit flows not only to private sector but also to the government (including public sector entities), should merit the attention of all concerned.
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