The disbursement of loan in the industrial sector during the July-September period in the current fiscal (2006-07) rose to Tk 2652 crore from Tk 2033 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The last financial year experienced a 12.83 percent growth in industrial credit.

Commercial banks attributed such push-up in industrial credit to the entrepreneurs' urge to invest more in the country's apparel sector in order to cope with the increasing global competition in the post-MFA era.

The bank sources, however, said poor recovery in loans has pushed down the credit in the agricultural sector.

The 30 percent rise in industrial credit has propelled a growth of 19 percent in imports, while its percentage was 13 during the same period last fiscal, the banking sources added.

They said imports showed an upward trend due to greater investment in the garment and pharmaceutical industries.

According to the sources, investors' confidence about renewed market vibrancy following the forthcoming general elections in January is responsible for the investment drive and the resultant rise in industrial credit.

A lesser growth in industrial credit than it was in the July-September quarter is, however, apprehended in the October-December quarter due to the present political turmoil.

The current financial year started with a good sing for the Bangladeshi garment entrepreneurs as because EU and US have imposed embargo on importing Chinese products, said SM Fazlul Hoque, president of Bangladesh Garment and Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

"People were encouraged to invest in the garments sector as it has been boomed with registering 20 percent average growth in the last few years, even though in the regime of post-MFA," the chief of the apex trade body in the apparel sector observed.

As a result, entrepreneurs have come forward to take risk in investing in the sector for a long time, he said, hastening to add that the current political impasse might hurt this trend of industrialisation badly.

"Despite having huge barriers, a silent industrial revolution has occurred," Mir Nasir Hossain, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told The Daily Star.

He said the upward trend of industrial credit throws a positive hint that by overcoming all odds--either political or global--local entrepreneurs will go ahead with their hope of infusing dynamism into business.

Meantime, in the agriculture sector, bank data shows, Tk 840 crore loan was disbursed during the July- September period this fiscal, while the amount of farm loan was Tk 931 in the corresponding period last fiscal, registering an 18 percent agricultural credit growth.