Bank borrowing for cinema owners raised to Tk10cr

Cinema owners with a minimum 100-seat capacity will be eligible for Tk10 crore bank loan for renovation or to build a new one, up from the previous limit of Tk5 crore, said a Bangladesh Bank circular on Thursday.   

Earlier in February this year, the central bank formed a refinancing scheme of Tk1,000 crore for the cinemas. The owners from the fund could avail a maximum Tk5 crore bank loan for renovation, modernisation and repair of the movie houses.   

According to the new circular, if there are multiple cinema units at a same building owned by the company or owner, they will be considered as a single unit while availing the loan from the refinancing scheme.   

In case of the same-building-units, banks will lend the highest Tk10 crore for establishing a new cineplex, and Tk5 crore for renovation. However, the loan demand will have to be reviewed thoroughly by the lender before approving it.

According to the circular, cinema owners, in case of running the hall in a rented building or on rented floors, will have to have rent or lease contracts at least 5 years longer than the repayment deadline.

Loans to the cinema have a 5% interest rate for the divisional cities, while the premium is 4.5% for other areas. The repayment period is eight years while repayment the first year will meet with a grace period.

The central bank in the new circular asked the managing directors and chief executives of all scheduled banks to implement the directive promptly.