The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) hailed the budget proposed for the next fiscal year (FY) as the latter has kept the fiscal incentives for textile sector unchanged. In a press statement, signed by BKMEA President A K M Selim Osman on Thursday night, the association also thanked the prime minister and the finance minister for exempting cent per cent export-oriented garment industries from payment of VAT on utility charges. However, mentioning that nothing has been said in the proposed budget about the rate of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for the garment sector, the BKMEA said the 0.25 per cent TDS for the sector will expire after June 30 next. There is still scope of issuing a statutory regulatory order (SRO) to keep the TDS rate same for next five years, the knitwear makers said. The association also hailed exemption of VAT on the services made available by the ports, freight forwarders, C&F agents, insurance companies and shipping agents for importing raw materials and exporting finished products by the apparel industry. Besides, separate and specific allocations for different sectors, like – agriculture, education, health, human resource development, ICT, employment generation, and communications infrastructure etc, reflects the government’s vision to transform Bangladesh into a developed country, it added.
