In an effort to help apparel and clothing industries achieve sustainable development, Bangladesh has recently launched an Energy Efficiency Financing Loan, dubbed ‘Planet Solutions’.
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Launched by BRAC Bank Limited (a leading private commercial bank), Planet Solutions will be an unsecured financing with an interest rate of 6.0 per cent, which will enable entrepreneurs and the technology service providers to avail the loan with flexible loan tenures based on payback period within minimum processing time.
This unique loan facility was launched formally by Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BRAC Bank Selim R F Hussain and Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) S K Sur Chowdhury at a workshop on Water and Energy Efficiency Financing, organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently.
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“….mechanisms to capture the opportunities for water and energy efficiency investments need to be created or strengthened,” Sur Chowdhury said, while addressing the workshop as the chief guest, adding, “For water and energy efficiency investments to be made, water and energy efficiency concepts must be marketed to enterprises, and specific projects must be identified, designed, and appraised.”
The Deputy Governor of BB further underlined that, “Despite the variety of sources for financing energy-efficiency projects, it is clear that ultimately the key source of sustainable and sizeable flows of finance in most countries is the local banking sector.”
Hussain on his part observed, “I would like to stress on the strong partnership we have developed over the years with IFC in working on Green Finance. IFC’s customized and tailor-made support for BRAC Bank, complemented with their global knowledge and expertise has helped us structure, plan and launch the very first Energy Efficiency Loan product in Bangladesh.”
