Waiver of agricultural loans up to 10,000 takas (including interest)

The Farmer Loan Waiver pledge was articulated in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) election manifesto for Bangladesh’s 13th national election. In its election manifesto for Bangladesh’s 13th National Election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) states that "The cost of farm inputs, including fertiliser, seeds, fuel, electricity, irrigation water, and more are rising, but hardworking farmers are not getting fair prices for their produce. As welfare-oriented government, we will waive agricultural loans of up to 10,000 takas for all farmers, including interest. Many farmers, crushed by inflation, are struggling to pay for instalments on various microloans in this difficult time. The BNP government will pay, on farmers behalf, one year's instalments of microloans taken from MRA registered NGOs. This will reduce their burden and make life more manageable, allowing them to meet other needs, including nutritious food. It is worth noting that during Begum Khaleda Zia's tenure, interest and principal on agricultural loans up to 5,000 takas were waived an initiative that eased farmers' hardship and effectively helped increase agricultural production."

On 26 February 2026, according to news reports, the newly elected government in its first cabinet meeting took the decision to waive agricultural loans up to Tk 10,000 (including interest), designating the Ministry of Finance as the lead for implementation.

According to news reports, following the cabinet decision on 26 February 2026, the government introduced a programme to waive agricultural loans up to Tk 10,000, including interest, for farmers engaged in grain, crop, fisheries, and livestock sectors. After a Finance Division meeting on 2 March 2026, the estimated coverage was revised from about 12 lakh farmers to 13,17,498 farmers across 15 banks, with an estimated fiscal cost of around Tk 1,568 crore. Under the reported financial framework, the Finance Division will allocate and transfer the required amount to the Financial Institutions Division, which will subsequently channel funds to the participating banks. The waiver amount includes approximately Tk 917 crore in principal and Tk 782 crore in interest, while around Tk 138 crore kept in interest suspense/uncertain accounts has been excluded from government responsibility. Before reimbursement is made to banks, the loan waiver data will be subject to audit by Bangladesh Bank. Banks will calculate eligible dues up to 25 February 2026, no new interest can be charged from 26 February 2026, and government reimbursement will be made in phases based on the audited amounts.

According to news reports, following the programme design, implementation began with the allocation and transfer of funds from the Finance Division to the Financial Institutions Division for onward reimbursement to participating banks. On 15 July 2026, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) reported that approximately Tk 226 crore in principal and interest had been waived for 2,29,933 small and marginal farmers in the northern region, with the Ministry of Finance having paid the corresponding amount to the bank. On 19 July 2026, loan-waiver certificates were distributed and mortgaged loan documents were returned to 5,892 farmers in Boda upazila of Panchagarh, covering approximately Tk 8.73 crore through Sonali Bank and RAKUB branches. On 20 July 2026, Bangladesh Krishi Bank reported that 56,748 farmers across ten districts of Khulna division had been brought under the programme, involving approximately Tk 41.80 crore in waived loans. On 6 September 2026, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury stated that, up to July 2026, agricultural loans of up to Tk 10,000, including interest, had been waived for 14,34,482 farmers across all upazilas of the country. He further stated that the government had paid Tk 1,352.74 crore to banks against the eligible waived loans. These figures confirm that implementation had progressed substantially beyond the initial allocation, verification and bank-by-bank processing stages.