& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Banks come to bail businesses out of political shocks

Sajjadur Rahman
Banks are coming to the rescue of their clients who are struggling to do business amid the ongoing political violence.
The rescue package includes enhancement in credit facility, cuts in lending rates and allowing the clients to open letters of credit.
"We don't want to see our clients dying," said Shafiqul Alam, managing director of Jamuna Bank.
There are huge stocks of finished goods in so many factories, but these goods cannot be shipped due to the continued strikes and blockades, Alam added.
"We are giving our good customers an over-limit facility so that they can pay their staff salaries."
Thousands of apparel, spinning, ceramics or pharmaceutical units situated in Dhaka, Gazipur, Ashulia, Narayanganj and Narsingdi are facing the realities of 52 days of hartals and more than 15 days of blockades so far this year, which has driven them to the brink of col lapse.FROM PAGE Bl
Factories are operating well below capacities and sitting on huge stocks of goods at the same time, rendering them unable to take out cash from the market to pay salaries and wages for the month.
Businesses have now resorted to their banks for a bailout; otherwise, their factories will shut down and the workers will be laid off. Ehsan Khasru, managing director of Prime Bank, said manufacturers and exporters are in deep waters with the goods produced in the last two weeks. "Helping our clients is a win-win game for us. Banks cannot benefit from the collapse of their clients (factories)," said Khasru.
Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Pubali Bank, said the business of many of their clients was obstructed by the ongoing blockades.
"We can help our clients by giving them loans at a sustainable rate," Chowdhury said. 'Allowing the clients to open LCs despite shipment failure can be useful forthem."
However, the facility is not for all, he said. Clients, who were in difficulties before the recent political turmoil, will not be entertained, he added.
Factories in Chittagong may not need this bailout from the banks as export and import activities are relatively easier for them, Khasru of Prime Bank said.
Businesspeople said the volatile nature of politics has made doing business critical, squeezing cash flow to the market. As a result, businesses were forced to take help from their respective banks to meet emergency needs, including payment to workers.
"Our sales have dropped to 20 percent of capacity. We are borrowing from banks to pay employees' salaries," said Bidhan Sarker, general manager of Uttara Croup of Companies, a manufacturer of garments and jute fabrics. Akij Croup, a conglomerate, is also not immune to the impacts of the ongoing strikes and blockades.
"Business community needs more than a credit facility. If there are no economic activities, what will be the use of this credit?" said Sk Bashir Uddin, managing director of Akij Croup of Industries that employs more than 32,000 people.
Early this week, the central bank has lowered the cost of loans from Export Development Fund to help the troubled manufacturers and exporters get cheap credit.