ASA, the second largest micro-lender by customer numbers, has set a target to disburse Tk 31,500 crore in the current fiscal year.

The money would be lent among eight million clients, the microfinance institution said in a statement yesterday.

The decision was taken at the organisation's 38th annual general meeting in its headquarters in Dhaka on September 28.

The meeting also approved a budgetary allocation of Tk 40 crore to implement non-financial programmes, which comprise primary healthcare, primary education strengthening, physiotherapy, sanitation, and hygiene.

The lender also took decisions to expand the coverage of the non-financial programmes in the coming years to provide access to a large segment of disadvantaged people of the country.

Taherunnessa Abdullah, chairperson of ASA, presided over the meeting, while Md Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, president of ASA, presented the annual report. Mohammed Azim Hossain, a director of ASA International, moderated the programme.