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Tk 1,000 crore extra stimulus for export

Govt announces the package to help the sector offset global meltdown fallout

Staff Correspondent
The government yesterday announced a series of additional fiscal and policy stimulus packages worth over Tk 1,000 crore for export sectors to offset bad impacts of global recession from the domestic economy.
The facilities the exporters are enjoying at present will continue as usual, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said at a press briefing at his secretariat office.
"This is the second stimulus package of the government. We have announced the package so that the country remains
unhurt from any bad impact of the global recession. But, things will change soon as the economies of advanced countries are peaking up," Muhith said.
Under the new package, the government will pay the licence renewal fees of captive power plants used in industrial units from November 1,2009 to June 2010 to compensate for the power crisis, he said.
The government will need Tk 7 crore more to pay the renewal fees, the finance minister said, adding that his ministry will pay the amount from the stimulus package of Tk 5,000 crore, an option kept in the national budget for the 2009-10
fiscal year.
In the package, the government has extended the bank loan re-scheduling facility without any down payment up to June 30, 2010 from October 2009 at a 10 percent interest rate instead of the current 13 percent for the RMG and textile sectors, Muhith said.
If any borrower defaults a loan during the proposed timeframe, extension of the re scheduling facility will be considered under the bankers-clients relationship, he said.
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Under the package, exporters will receive 5 percent cash incentives for new export destinations for three years while all export destinations, except the US, EU and Canada, will be considered as new, the minister said.
The exporters will get 5 percent cash incentives in the first year. 4 percent in the second year and 2 percent in the third and final year.
According to the package document, members of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) will receive tltis facility only for direct export of yam.
Forward exchange booking is a must for exporting home textile in other currencies rather than dollar. Tliis sub-sector will also receive the bank loan rescheduling facility, the document says.
The government has also decided to give a special benefit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Companies that exported up to $3.5 million in FY2008-09 will be brought under the SME category, itsays.
Such SMEs will receive 5 percent cash incentives if they can export more than the actual export of the last fiscal year in FY2009-10,Muhithsaid.
The government will also give 10 percent electricity bill to SMEs that do not have their own captive generators up to June 30,2010, but the facility is subject to some conditions including non-availability of bank loan re-scheduling facility, not being an enterprise of the owner of a large industry and the basis of acceptance of real information. the finance minister said.
The government will introduce a uniform bank service charge after discussing with Bangladesh Bank and the Bankers' Association of
Bangladesh.
From now, an individual exporter can receive S10 million from the Export Development Fund through three banks; an exporter gets $1.5 million at present. The bank interest rate in this case will be London interbank offer rate (LIBOR) plus 2.5 percent and Bangladesh Bank will take necessary actions in litis connection.
The BTMA members that import cotton and other fibres for producing yam will also get the same benefits against a few conditions, the minister said.
He suggested forming a joint contributory fund for the export sector for improving market and quality of the products.
He said the government is ready to give Tk 300 crore to this fund and the private sector exporters have been asked to contribute at a rate of 0.1 percent on their free-on-board value of exportable products up to June 2010 and at 0.2 percent from July 2010.
The government will bear 5Q percent cost of the operation of the National Institute of Textile Thuning. Research and Design from FY2010-11 although it bore 100 percent cost of the institution for FY 2008-09 and 60 percent for FY2009-10.
The government will also give cash incentives to shipbuilders and crust leather exporters as these sectors have potential, it has also declared bank loan moratorium facility for these sectors for a certain period. Muhith said.
On November 10, former finance minister M Syeduzzaman, chief of the working committee on recession. recommended that the government provide different facilities to exporters to offset the bad impacts of global recession from the domestic economy. RELATED STORY ON Bl