Now 10 more industries would like help
At least 10 industry bodies have put on both finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank to get financial support from the Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package for the export-oriented industries.
The industries are not allowed support beneath the guidelines of the package, said a BB official.
Some local investors without direct link with exports also have sought support from the package because they are also in deep trouble now.
If all of the industries' demands should be accommodated, the size of the fund should be increased to Tk 10,000 crore to Tk 12,000 crore from existing Tk 5,000 crore, said two BB officials who will work on the stimulus package.
According to the regulations of the fund, only export-oriented industries can make an application for loans to pay wages of their employees for April, May and June.
The local investors ought to be allowed to benefit from the fund because they have a strong role in keeping the wheels of the economy moving, the officials said.
The organisations that requested the fund are the Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA), the Bangladesh Local Carton Manufacturers Association (BLCMA) and the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
Besides, type A and type B industries of export processing and monetary zones and high-tech parks also have requested the fund.
Type A units are 100 per cent foreign-owned, including those owned by Bangladeshi nationals who reside abroad. Type B units are joint-venture projects between foreign and local entrepreneurs.
The federal government, however, on April 15 allowed Type C units, which are fully owned by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and have a home in the united states permanently, to get financial support from the package.
The finance ministry asked the BB on April 19 to also bring the backward linkage industries of exporters beneath the stimulus package for the tiny and medium enterprise sector instead of the main one for export-oriented industries.
As per the government instruction, the central bank formed a stimulus package of Tk 20,000 crore for the SME sector.
The BGAPMEA member factories will be permitted to get loans from the SME package as working capital, and they will utilize the fund to pay their workers' wages, the finance ministry said.
"We export essential products to the industries that supply finished goods abroad. So, we've a direct connect to the country's export programme," said BGAPMEA President Md Abdul Kader Khan.
Oftentimes, the member industries export some of the goods to foreign nations, however the factories were not considered for support from the stimulus, he added.
BASIS members are completely export-oriented enterprises, but some banks have primarily refrained from entertaining their applications, said Syed Almas Kabir, the president of the organisation.
"So, we requested the central bank and the finance ministry hurriedly to resolve the problem. The higher-ups of the central bank informed BASIS that people have entitlement to support from the package," he added.
Member factories of BLCMA, which manufactures carton for both local and export-oriented industries, also have requested the support as they are going through a hard time due to the ongoing shutdown, said MA Bashar Patwary, president of the association.
The association has about 200 members employing a lot more than 20,000 workers.
"Our production has now completely stopped," he said, adding that banks hardly provide finance to them.
