FE Report
The country's apparel exporters have requested the Bangladesh Bank (BB) for taking appropriate measures to bring down the interest rate on commercial lending to 10 per cent from existing 16 per cent.
They also urged BB to arrange soft-loans for an interim period of six months to pay salary and festival bonus to the workers as many of the factory owners were facing cash crisis.
The appeals came at a meeting held between the BB Governor Salehuddin Ahmed and leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in the central bank Wednesday.
The BGMEA leaders also requested the central bank for taking initiatives to reduce different charges including letters of credit (LCs) to facilitate the country's prime export earnings sectors.
Regarding the interest rate and charges issues, the central bank governor sought concrete proposals from the BGMEA leaders to take up the issues at the next bankers meeting, scheduled to be held Sunday next.
"We will submit our written proposals to the central bank within a couple of days," President of the BGMEA Anwar-Ul Alam Chowdhury told the FE Wednesday after the meeting.
"We will raise the issues relating to interest rate on lending and different bank charges at the next bankers meeting," a BB senior official said.
The BGMEA also proposed to increase the allocation of the export development fund (EDF) to US$300 million from the existing $100 million to meet the growing demand in the emerging sector.
Besides, they requested to raise the single exposure limit for such re-financing facilities to $3.0 million from the existing $1.0 million on the basis of expansionary trend of the apparel sector.
"We have requested the BB governor to take initiatives for quick disbursement of the EDF to help the country's exporters," the BGMEA chief added.
BGMEA urges BB to reduce commercial lending rate
FE Team | Published: September 13, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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