Financing Small Business-Owners in Back-Strap Handloom Sector: A Study on Rangamati District of Bangladesh

Back-strap handloom represents a very early stage of cloth production and is still recognized as a symbol of the glorious past of the entire human race. The handloom products of Bangladesh have already gained popularity in the international market. Moreover, the back-strap handloom products of Rangamati now have high demand to the tourists. Therefore, these back-strap handloom products are not only important as the cultural artifacts but also as profitable sources for small entrepreneurs. However, the weavers require sufficient initial capital to start the business as well as working capital to carry on the business. But the entrepreneurs confront different problems regarding acquiring loans from formal as well as informal sources. These problems include insufficient amount of loan sanction, excessive documentation, requirement of references, inability to provide collateral, unfavorable loan policy and so on. Therefore, necessary measures are required to overcome all these problems so that this glorious sector can be flourished with its promised potentiality as well as cultural significance.