Special Reporter //

In the past, banks did not follow the method of evaluating the assets of the borrower while giving loans. The decision to give loans was taken at lunch or dinner parties, said Energy Advisor Dr. Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan.

Due to such a fruitless lending system, 3 lakh taka of defaulted loans have been created. The visible result of this is that now groups like Beximco and S Alam are not able to pay the salaries of their workers.

Advisor to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr. Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan made this comment at a seminar on Saturday.

The Reporters Forum (ERF), an organization of economic reporters, organized this seminar at its own auditorium in Paltan, the capital. The main topic of the seminar was ‘The role of domestic financial institutions in the transition to renewable energy’. The Center for Environment and Participatory Research, Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network-Clean and BWGED provided support in organizing the event.

He said that the government will not buy electricity from any other institution but is making an energy policy with emphasis on renewable energy. The policy will provide support for renewable energy. However, no subsidy will be given. Bank loans will be given at a slightly lower interest rate. The opportunity to use government transmission lines to supply electricity to consumers will be given. Space will be provided for installing solar panels.

Regarding the new type of electricity consumer system ‘merchant electricity’, the energy advisor said that the merchant electricity policy will be adopted in the new policy. Investors will generate electricity and they will decide the customers for sale. The government wants to move away from independent power producers (IPPs). Since the government is the buyer of IPPs, it is now unable to pay. The government will move away from this policy.

The seminar, chaired by ERF President Refayet Ullah Mirdha, was attended by City Bank Chief Economist and Country Business Manager Md. Ashanur Rahman, Clean Chief Executive Hasan Mehedi, among others. ERF General Secretary Abul Kashem moderated the event.