Following the Government’s move to relieve 133 sick and closed garment units of Taka 649.74 crore due to 21 state-owned and private commercial banks, the country’s central bank, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on behalf of the Finance Ministry recently asked the respective banks to provide information about debt accounts held by the aforementioned sick garment industries.
On 9 January, BB asked the respective banks to provide information about debt accounts held by the 133 sick garment industries within 5 working days, following which the banks submitted the sought-for information to the central bank.
The BB also reportedly sought the banks’ opinions on the Finance Ministry initiative.
The 21 state-owned and private commercial banks are namely Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Janata Bank, BASIC Bank, Pubali Bank, Uttara Bank, Mercantile Bank, Exim Bank, National Bank, Prime Bank, IFIC Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Al Arafah Islami Bank, The City Bank, SIBL, Southeast Bank, Jamuna Bank, NCC Bank, BDBL and Bangladesh Commerce Bank.
Talking to the media, the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Dr. Rubana Huq said, “We have been talking about the issue for several years. We recently proposed that the Government help 133 sick garment industries,” adding, “We expect that the Government will help the 133 sick and closed garment industries.”
Meanwhile, a high-ranking official interacting with the media underlined that the Government wants to relieve the sick and closed garment industry of their liabilities through a special subsidy scheme.
