Garment manufacturers seek waiver of all sorts of interest for the next six months on loan amount they had taken from banks for the sake of the industry as what they said it will save them minimally from being classified in face the ongoing political unrest. The apparel makers also want special incentives on export of garment items on the EU countries to compensate their business loss due to fluctuation of Euro and Rubble against US dollar. The stakeholders of the industry are expected to place a bunch of demands to the government during a pre-budget discussion with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on April 8, 2015. The demands include keeping source tax on FOB unchanged. NBR, like every year is going to hold a series of pre-budget meeting separately with the stakeholders of different sector from today (Wednesday). Shahidullah Azim, Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) while talking to daily sun said that the garment sector has been going through a tough time due to the ongoing political turmoil. Referring recent business data, he said that some 40 factories have suffered losses of Tk 189 crore during the ongoing political turmoil. The government should offer special package for the garment makers to cope up with the losses, he opined. It was learnt that the board of directors of BGMEA ahead of the pre-budget discussion of the NBR will fix the demands. Shahidullah Azim said that they will fix the demands before the discussion with NBR scheduled to be held on April 8 next. The garment makers said they will also demand for not raising source tax on FOB, which is 0.30 percent now. According to information, three-month long blockade and hartal programmes paralyzed the garment sector as well as the country’s economy. As a result, the apparel makers are eagerly waiting to get some facilities from the government to cope up with the losses.
