Businesses mount pressure for higher subsidy

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Shakhawat Hossain
The caretaker government is under tremendous pressure from the country's business group, who are seeking higher cash subsidy and other financial benefits on plea of the global economic recession, finance ministry officials said Sunday.
The country's exporters, importers and small entrepreneurs started persuading the authorities for the financial benefits with the onslaught of the financial storm on major global economies.
But the pressure has been mounted recently by the business community, who are lobbying hard to realise their demands before the scheduled exit of the present caretaker administration at the end of this month, the sources said.
"They (the businessmen) seemed a bit desperate to realise their demands from the present caretaker government on plea of the global financial meltdown," said a senior ministry official.
Surprisingly, these businessmen do not want to wait for the next elected government to take over after the ninth parliamentary election on December 29.
Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, who was at the helm of the country's economic affairs amid two major natural calamities in 2007 and a record inflation, formed a committee in the backdrop of the global financial recession last month.
The main tasks of the committee, headed by finance secretary, are to examine the threats to the country's economy from the global financial storm and suggest recommendations.
Ministry officials said high-ups of the present caretaker government have, however, deviated from such systematic bureaucratic practice and sounded positive on the businessmen's demands.
If the demands are met, the budget deficit will likely go up from its targeted 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The demands involve around Tk 10.00 billion (1,000 crore) or 0.17 per cent of the GDP, they said.
A total of Tk 10.50 billion has been kept aside for the cash incentives for the exporters in the current fiscal.
Exporters, especially readymade garment (RMG) businessmen, are demanding further cash subsidy and devaluation of the local currency against the US dollar.
The RMG exports witnessed 45 per cent growth in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal.
Besides the exporters, the local businessmen, mainly commodity importers, are demanding rescheduling of bank loans and waiver of interest on the pretext of falling prices of commodities globally.