The government inaugurated the National Cottage and Small Industry (CSI) Development Bank in Paro, coinciding with the Birthday of His Majesty the King yesterday. Located near Bongdey town, the Bank will provide affordable and easy access to finance and diversify the economic activities through the promotion of cottage and small industries.
Prime Minister who graced the inauguration said the CSI bank is no different from the Rural Enterprise Development Corporation (REDCL) rather it is an upgraded version.
“The Second elected government put the foundation and made BOIC into REDCL since the BOIC didn’t quite work well. Similarly REDCL also had some limitations. So we had improvised and upgraded the REDCL to form a new bank. Otherwise, it is the same,” said Dr Lotay Tshering, the Prime Minister.
Earlier REDCL had funding size of a maximum of only Nu 0.5 M. Now the CSI bank has increased its lending size to up to Nu 10 M and the bank will sponsor 75% of the total project cost as the loan component. This non-deposit bank is expected to be fully operational and will be providing financial assistance in the next two weeks.
“One of the new products that we will be providing is export financing. Earlier during the time of BOIC and REDCL, this funding was not there. Now with the launch of CSI, we will also be opening financing windows for our Bhutanese products,” said Pema Wangdi, the CEO, National CSI Development Bank.
During the launch, the government injected equity of Nu 250 M. Bank agents will be stationed in all 205 gewogs for easy access.
Namgay Wangchuk
