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POLITICAL UNREST

Garment markers turn to bankers to cushion impact

Star Business Report
Garment makers yesterday sought immediate help from the banking sector to cancel out die losses caused by the ongoing political unrest.
They will require special loans to implement the new wage structure for the sector's millions of workers from the current month, the garment manufacturers said.
Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, placed a five-point demand at a meeting with bankers and bank owners.
Islam said the garment sector, which accounts for more than 75 percent of the country's total exports, has been under tremendous pressure for the last few months due to regular shutdowns and blockades by the opposition.
As a result, the garment makers are not being able to bring imported raw materials to their factories from Chittagong port and export the finished goods on time, he said at the meeting at BGMEA office.
"The situation has forced the exporters to go for expensive air shipment to meet deadlines," the BGMEA chief said.
In some cases, the exporters are also facing penalties and order cancellation due to delayed shipment, Islam said.
Mohammad Hatem, acting president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said owners would not be able to pay salaries without low cost loans as the factories were closed most of the times in recent months due to workers' unrest and political violence. Leaders of the Association of Bankers-Bangladesh, a platform of chief executives of banks, and Bangladesh Association of Banks, a platform of directors, said at the meeting that they are ready to provide loans for the garment makers.
The BGMEA said the interest on project loans would have to be waived for the next two years.
The bankers, however, have agreed to waive the interest for a year and said they would require permission from the central bank to do so, according to I latem.
The BGMEA also demanded that loans to textile, garment and backward linkage industries should notbeclassifiedfortheir failure to repay instalment for two years starting from the October-December quarter this year.
The two banking sector associations also advised the BGMEA to place their demands to the central bank.
The BGMEA, the BKMEA and other garment sector trade bodies have already sat with the central bank and would meet with the finance minister today.
"We sympathise with the apparel exporters. Definitely, we'll do something for them," said Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managingdirectorof Pubali Bank.
Chowdhury, however, said some of their demands, such as relaxing loan classification and rescheduling rules, depend on the regulator.
Nurul Amin, chairman of Association of Bankers-Bangladesh, advised the BGMEA to seek supports, such as incentive and tax break, from the government.
Nazrul Islam Mazumder, chairman of Bangladesh Association of Banks, also