Increase of capital machinery, raw materials import: Pol stability a must for growing economy

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Abu Sazzad :
The import of capital machinery and industrial raw materials will increase significantly if political stability prevails in the country, which is essential for the growing economy of the country, said a number of businessmen and central bank officials on Saturday.
For this, initiative on the part of the government is imperative, they said, as import of capital machinery and industrial raw materials during the July to February period of the current fiscal slightly increased.
The import of capital machinery and settlement of letter of credit (LC) increased by 5.31 and 19 per cent respectively during the July to February period of the current fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 over the same period of previous FY 2013-14.
The total L/C amount for import of capital machinery was $2697.60 million and settlement $ 1961.10 million respectively during the period
whereas it was $ 2561.54 million and 1610.20 million during the corresponding period of the last fiscal, according to the latest data released by Bangladesh Bank (BB).
On the other hand, L/C amount for import of industrial raw materials was $10,571.54 million of which $10,132.47 million was settled during the same period of the current fiscal year 2014-15 compared with $ 9,755.50 million and 9,628.16 million during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year 2013-14 as per BB data.
Talking to The New Nation M Mahfuzur Rahman, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank on Saturday said, “The import of capital machinery and industrial raw materials will be much more if the country’s political situation remains stable.” Bangladesh Bank always encourages banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to import capital machinery and industrial raw materials.
Already the BB has eased the conditions of sanctioning industrial loan for the sake of the country’s economic development and has asked the commercial banks to sanction SME loan to the small-scale entrepreneurs. The central bank has also asked banks and NBFIs to provide single digit loan to the women entrepreneurs.
The business people pursued slow policy in expanding their businesses due to the recent spate of political unrest and uncertainty, said the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Vice-President Md. Helal Uddin. Businessmen are the driving force of the country’s economy. So the government should create a business friendly atmosphere for the greater interest of economy. The FBCCI Vice- President urged the government to resolve the political issues prevailing in the country for the smooth functioning of business. “Definitely we have to come to an end regarding the political violence across the country if we want to achieve our expected level of economic development”, said the FBCCI Vice-President.
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