Leading the way in green loans

A woman passing by Bangladesh’s central bank in Dhaka. — Reuters

FOR many years, Banolata Refractory, a brick manufacturer in northern Bangladesh, had wanted to start making environmentally-friendly bricks and cut its carbon emissions, but it lacked the funding to build a greener and cleaner kiln.

That changed in early 2020 when the company discovered that Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, was offering low-interest loans for sustainable and green projects.