Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has moved firmly, demanding urgent reform in loan classification rules as businesses struggle under mounting financial pressure and shrinking credit flow.
The chamber called for extending the timeline for declaring a loan as classified to six months instead of the current shorter window.
The DCCI placed the demand during a formal meeting on Monday afternoon at Bangladesh Bank (BB) with Governor Mostaqur Rahman, signaling strong concern over the tightening credit environment.
The delegation, led by DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed, attended the meeting along with members of the organization's board of directors, as confirmed in an official press statement.
Taskeen Ahmed stressed that loan rescheduling facilities must be revisited for genuine and involuntary defaulters, while the classification period should be extended to at least six months to reflect ground realities faced by businesses.
He argued that reducing the classification period from nine months to three months has accelerated pressure on enterprises already burdened with high operational costs, energy shortages, and subdued demand conditions across markets.
The DCCI further urged immediate attention to interest rate policy, pointing out that private sector credit growth has dropped to 6.03 per cent, marking a 22-year low.
It highlighted that with the policy rate at 10 percent, lending rates have climbed to around 16-17 per cent, creating a severe cost barrier for borrowers.
Taskeen Ahmed warned that such elevated borrowing costs are rendering bank financing increasingly unaffordable and, in many cases, ineffective for sustaining or expanding business operations.
He insisted on a gradual reduction in policy rates alongside targeted subsidized credit support for priority sectors, including manufacturing, export-oriented industries, and SMEs.
He also noted that the spread between lending and deposit rates has exceeded 5 percent, a gap that is eroding investor confidence and placing additional stress on the overall banking ecosystem.
Razeb H Chowdhury and Selim Solaiman, Vice Presidents of DCCI, were present in the meeting, reinforcing the chamber's unified call for policy easing and a more balanced credit framework to stabilize business activity and restore momentum in the private sector.
