To facilitate the import of industrial raw materials, the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) has urged an increase in the immediate supply of adequate dollars.
When a delegation of the BCI, led by its president Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), met Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rauf Talukder at the central bank on Sunday, the board of directors of the only chamber in the industrial sector made the demand.
According to the BCI leaders, the country’s high rate of inflation, high loan interest rates, rising gas and power prices, and the inability of any organisation to operate at maximum capacity are the current reasons behind the decline in sales for all of its organisations. With high-interest rates on loans, banks are turning to investing in bonds.
They claimed that the challenge now is the survival of the industrial institutions in the current situation.
Because of the dollar issue, industries that import raw materials are unable to open letters of credit (LCs) with banks. They are required to open an LC at a rate that is much higher than what the Bangladesh Bank sets.
The BCI leaders also pointed out that the Government’s cash incentives for export-oriented sectors aren’t getting paid on schedule. Consequently, enterprises are finding it more challenging to make their tax payments on schedule.
If the cash incentives are not released on time, the industries are not able to pay the salaries of their employees on time.
The BCI leaders insisted that the cash incentives be released in an expedited manner. They claimed that it takes four to five weeks for an LC to mature and be accepted in the event of prior exports, increasing their obligation.
In the current situation, they said the SME sector is facing the most losses.
The BCI urged the Government to make arrangements to sustain the SME sector.
Senior vice-president of BCI, Preeti Chakraborty, vice-president Mohammad Yunus, directors Ranjan Chowdhury, Dr. Delwar Hossain Raja, Abul Kalam Bhiya, Zia Haider Mithu, Mizanur Rahman, Ruslan Nasir, Sohana Rauf Chowdhury, Md Salim Jahan, Md Mahfuzur Rahman were meeting while Deputy Governors of Bangladesh Bank Abu Farah Md Nasser and Norun Nahar and director of Foreign Exchange Policy Department Md. Sarwar Hossain attended it.
