Close on heels of the top garment manufacturing bodies (the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association – BGMEA, and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association – BKMEA), writing to Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal seeking continuation of low-cost loans for 3 more months till September, the Government has come forward to help them in this regard.
The Government has rolled out yet another stimulus package of Taka 3,000 crore to help all export-oriented industries pay workers’ wages for July, as per media reports.
The letter of the garment makers sent to Finance Minister, a copy of which was also sent to the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, maintained that the initial stimulus package helped the RMG sector a lot in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis but added that they were now worried about industry’s future and how to pay the workers as it would not be possible for most apparel factories to pay workers for the next 3 months (July, August and September).
Considering the situation, the Finance Ministry has asked the country’s central bank (Bangladesh Bank) to make available the additional fund to the export-oriented industries, subsequent to which BB has issued letter to 47 banks to release the amount to large borrowers in the industrial and service sectors from the stimulus package, to avail which borrowers would reportedly have to pay interest of 4.50 per cent.
