Raise limit for loans from export development fund: BTMA

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association has requested the Bangladesh Bank to increase their ceiling of loans from the Export Development Fund (EDF) given the price hike of raw materials in the global market.

The association sent a letter to the central bank on November 14 requesting it to allow every mill of BTMA to take out loans worth $40 million from the EDF.

The banking regulator earlier widened the ceiling to $30 million in contrast to the previous limit of $25 million for per mill after the coronavirus hit the country last year.

The facility will end December this year.

Against the backdrop, BTMA requested the central bank to increase the ceiling and continue it until December 2022.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of BTMA, said the price of industrial raw materials has recently increased sharply in the global market.

On top of that, the freight charge is on the rise as well, creating an adverse impact on the member mills of BTMA, he said.

"So, we have requested the BB to accept our proposals in the interest of the economy," he said.

The association also demanded to lower the interest rate to 1.75 per cent from that of the existing 2 per cent.

In October 2020, the central bank lowered the interest rate to 1.75 per cent considering the business slowdown derived from the pandemic, Khokon said.

But, it later increased the rate to 2 per cent.