Second stimulus package
The first press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on November 25, 2009 contained some points which required further clarifications for implementation. Small & medium garment factories have been included in this package for receipt of benefits.
The package, definitely has been declared after assessing the eligibility of those who have suffered during the period of worldwide economic recession. In spite of that, the package still remains unpaid. Six months have gone already since the press release was issued.
However, after meeting the BGMEA & the BKMEA representatives on April 07, 2010, the government formed a committee under the leadership of the Director General, Monitoring Cell, Finance Division for formulating policies for implementation of the decisions of the meeting.
The recommendations forwarded by this committee were very specific. The following are the recommendations which are about the same as the first press release issued by government but properly clarified :
Renewal Fees for captive generators for the period from November 01, 2009 to June 30, 2010 will be paid from stimulus package.
Garment factories exporting up to 3.50 million US Dollars will be entitled to receive 5% on the export made by them in the year 2008 -2009.
Over and above that, any garment factory which has exported any amount to countries other then U.S.A., Canada & European Union will be entitled to receive 5% on the export made by them in the 2008-2009 & 4% & 2% in the year 2009-2010 & 2010-2011 respectively.
Similar facilities will be available to BTMA members directly exporting yarns to any country.
Factories which do not use captive generators will be given subsidy of 10% of their electricity bills for the period from July 01, 2009 to June 30, 2010.
Bangladesh Bank may consider reducing the rate of interest to 10% on the loan rescheduled by factories in the textile sector.
The circular dated May 03, 2010 was forwarded to all relevant departments for implementation IMMEDIATELY. Still the banks and other relevant authorities are yet to get necessary instruction for disbursement of funds to RMG units whom the government thought should be given support as early as six months back. I request the authorities concerned to save the small factories in the industry by arranging payment to them without any further delay. “A stitch in time saves nine.”
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