FE Report

The government has doubled the Equity Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF) for information and communications technology (ICT) to Tk 2.0 billion from the existing Tk 1.0 billion.

"I'm proposing to enhance the amount of the existing EEF relating to ICT-promotion from Tk 1.0 billion to Tk 2.0 billion," Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in his budget speech Thursday.

The finance minister also proposed to allocate Tk 1.0 billion to meet the emergency expenditure in the ICT sector.

On June 1 last, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) handed over the operation of the fund to the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) as sub-agent of the central bank.

The ICB has received fund worth Tk 1.0 billion under the agreement signed with the central bank that has operated the government fund since December 2000 under an agreement.

The EEF was launched in 1999 by the central bank with an initial allocation of Tk 1.0 billion aiming to promote the agro-based industries and IT sectors.

The central bank has, so far, sanctioned Tk 5.65 billion from the fund and disbursed Tk 5.08 billion to 217 agro-based projects and 34 ICT projects, according to the central bank statistics.