We have not even begun to tap into our potential as an exporting nation
It is quite plain to see that the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic coupled with rapidly escalating worldwide events which have had a severe impact on the global supply chain continue to have an adverse effect on Bangladesh in terms of exports.
Despite our nation forging newer trade relations seemingly every other month, the status quo is still not ideal, not limited to just how uniform our export basket has been for a long time now.
To that end, Bangladesh Bank’s recent Tk 10,000 crore deal with 49 commercial banks for an Export Facilitation Pre-finance Fund (EFPF) will hopefully act as a much needed shot in the arm that our export industries desperately need at this point.
Indeed, the EFPF was formulated by the central bank with the express intent of helping our export-oriented industries with their development and continued expansion — exporters will be able to take loans in local currency against the purchase or import of raw materials at an interest rate of 4% under this fund while the interest rate will be set at 1.5% for the banks themselves.
If the funds are allocated in a timely manner with no scope for it falling prey to the clutches of corruption, they have the potential to offset the effects of Covid-19 and the economic fallout of Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine to a great extent.
One of the key issues that the EFPF will need to address is the lack of any diversification in our export. As it stands, our RMG sector is still our biggest exporting industry. Which is indeed a matter of some disappointment, given that we are witnessing other industries, such as our nascent IT sector, slowly rise into the scene with very little in the way of any support.
The fund will hopefully ensure that such fledgling industries are allowed to flourish into becoming the mammoths that they can be.
We have not even begun to tap into our potential as an exporting nation, and that’s a prospect that we can take to the bank.
