Badrul Ahsan :
Considering the immense export prospect of jute sector, the government is likely to provide loans to the industry insiders at 2 per cent of interest, sources said.
They said there is a special fund of Bangladesh Bank namely ‘Export Development Fund (EDF)’ from where exporters who produce products using imported raw materials are getting loans at two per cent
of interest but the jute and jute goods exporters are not eligible for the loans as they make their products using local raw materials.
The Textiles and Jute Ministry has recently sought a Tk 10,000 crore export promotion fund for the jute sector so that jute and jute goods exporters can get low interest loans from the EDF fund and boost export.
In this context, the Ministry has written a letter to the Finance Ministry and the Bangladesh Bank, the sources said.
“Exporters, who produce goods with imported materials get low-cost fund but the exporters who produces goods using local raw materials are not eligible for such fund is not justifiable,” the Ministry wrote in the letter.
Besides, in a recent meeting of the advisory committee on jute, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam requested the Finance Ministry and the central bank to allow a fund worth Tk 10,000 crore like the EDF for the jute sector.
Azam said exporters are getting low-cost loan facilities from the EDF worth $2.5 billion (approximately Tk 20,000 crore) but the jute sector exporters are not getting loans from the fund as the sector uses raw materials from local sources.
In the meeting, Bangladesh Jute Mills Association Secretary Md Abdul Barik Khan said the jute sector exporters should get more low-cost loans than the exporters in other sectors as jute goods exporters are using local sources for raw materials.
He said the export sectors, including readymade garments, leather, ceramics and plastics, are getting loans from the EDF at two per cent interest and all the sectors depend on imported raw materials for producing export products.
“We the jute and jute goods producers export our goods adding cent per cent value but are not getting any support from the government. If we are given low cost fund then, export of the sector would see a big boost shortly,” Barik added.
The policy of Bangladesh Bank for the EDF should be changed so that not only the raw material importing export sectors but also the jute sector can get the benefit from the fund, he said.
Nasima Begum, Joint Secretary (jute) of the Textiles and Jute Ministry, on Tuesday told The New Nation that her Ministry had send a letter to the Finance Ministry and the Bangladesh Bank seeking an EDF-like fund worth Tk 10,000 crore for promoting jute sector’s export.
‘Though we are yet to get any feedback from the Finance Ministry, we are hopeful of getting positive response from the government,’ she said.
Considering the immense export prospect of jute sector, the government is likely to provide loans to the industry insiders at 2 per cent of interest, sources said.
They said there is a special fund of Bangladesh Bank namely ‘Export Development Fund (EDF)’ from where exporters who produce products using imported raw materials are getting loans at two per cent
of interest but the jute and jute goods exporters are not eligible for the loans as they make their products using local raw materials.
The Textiles and Jute Ministry has recently sought a Tk 10,000 crore export promotion fund for the jute sector so that jute and jute goods exporters can get low interest loans from the EDF fund and boost export.
In this context, the Ministry has written a letter to the Finance Ministry and the Bangladesh Bank, the sources said.
“Exporters, who produce goods with imported materials get low-cost fund but the exporters who produces goods using local raw materials are not eligible for such fund is not justifiable,” the Ministry wrote in the letter.
Besides, in a recent meeting of the advisory committee on jute, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam requested the Finance Ministry and the central bank to allow a fund worth Tk 10,000 crore like the EDF for the jute sector.
Azam said exporters are getting low-cost loan facilities from the EDF worth $2.5 billion (approximately Tk 20,000 crore) but the jute sector exporters are not getting loans from the fund as the sector uses raw materials from local sources.
In the meeting, Bangladesh Jute Mills Association Secretary Md Abdul Barik Khan said the jute sector exporters should get more low-cost loans than the exporters in other sectors as jute goods exporters are using local sources for raw materials.
He said the export sectors, including readymade garments, leather, ceramics and plastics, are getting loans from the EDF at two per cent interest and all the sectors depend on imported raw materials for producing export products.
“We the jute and jute goods producers export our goods adding cent per cent value but are not getting any support from the government. If we are given low cost fund then, export of the sector would see a big boost shortly,” Barik added.
The policy of Bangladesh Bank for the EDF should be changed so that not only the raw material importing export sectors but also the jute sector can get the benefit from the fund, he said.
Nasima Begum, Joint Secretary (jute) of the Textiles and Jute Ministry, on Tuesday told The New Nation that her Ministry had send a letter to the Finance Ministry and the Bangladesh Bank seeking an EDF-like fund worth Tk 10,000 crore for promoting jute sector’s export.
‘Though we are yet to get any feedback from the Finance Ministry, we are hopeful of getting positive response from the government,’ she said.
