Extending loan repayment deadline could save 500-600 factories: BGMEA chief
BGMEA also urged for increasing Chattogram Port's efficiency and simplification of customs processes
Extending the loan repayment deadline from three months to six months could save 500 to 600 readymade garment (RMG) factories from classified loans, said BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan during a meeting with Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Anisuzzaman Chowdhury.
Speaking at the meeting held at the planning ministry today (3 July), the BGMEA president urged the interim government to reconsider Bangladesh Bank's current loan classification policy, which he said places undue pressure on entrepreneurs, according to a press release issued by the association.
"The repayment period has been reduced from nine months to three months. Often, due to financial constraints, many factory owners are unable to meet this deadline," Khan said.
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The BGMEA delegation, which included Vice Presidents Md Mizanur Rahman and Md Shehab Udduza Chowdhury, also raised a wide range of industry challenges including cash incentive reductions, gas supply shortages, customs inefficiencies, and complications in renewing trade licenses and import-export codes.
"The repayment period has been reduced from nine months to three months. Often, due to financial constraints, many factory owners are unable to meet this deadline."
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan
Khan also criticised the state's recent cut in cash incentives for garment exports — from 1% to 0.3% for regular support and from 4% to 1.5% for alternative schemes — calling it untimely and counterproductive.
He called on the government to reconsider these decisions in the interest of sustaining the RMG industry's global competitiveness.
Additionally, the delegation proposed reviving the pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme and extending it till 2030 to ensure liquidity for exporters. They also recommended setting up a 'forced' crisis fund linked to export revenues that could help disburse wages to workers during emergencies.
Regarding infrastructure, the BGMEA called for increasing Chattogram Port's efficiency and simplification of customs processes, especially reducing lead times amid tightening global trade conditions, the release added.
The delegation also emphasised the need for immediate extraction of gas from newly-discovered fields in Bhola and increasing LNG imports to address the acute energy crisis affecting industrial production.
The RMG leaders further proposed installing solar power plants on unused government land and water bodies through public-private partnerships to promote renewable energy use in the sector.
The BGMEA also sought Anisuzzaman's support in reviving the abandoned garments village project in Munshiganj and establishing a dedicated industrial zone for small and medium-sized factories in Chattogram.
Anisuzzaman Chowdhury acknowledged the issues raised and assured the BGMEA of continued state support to strengthen the country's largest export sector.
