Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The primary textile sector is yet to receive funding from the government’s Tk 30,000 crore stimulus package, despite being in dire straits due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Garment exports to the US -- Bangladesh’s single largest apparel export destination -- has declined by 12.50 percent year on year to 2.32 billion USD between January and May in 2020, according to the latest US OTEXA data.

The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has put a scar in apparel shipments as earnings from the country’s main export item in the immediate past fiscal year fell significantly compared to anytime in the past decade.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as face masks and surgical gowns, has become another major export of Bangladesh’s garment sector as global demand for such products increased exponentially due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

He did not stop just by reaching the pinnacle of businesses in Bangladesh through unparalleled dedication, hard-work and extraordinary ethics that brought him adulation at home and abroad.

Tanneries are suffering from a capital shortage following a drop in sales amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and subsequently, the country’s rawhide business has been severely impacted, according to the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA).

Much has been said about the modernisation and automation of the value-added tax system in Bangladesh over the last decade. Yet, the automation of the VAT administration is halfway, although the project’s tenure is supposed to come to its end this year.

Bangladesh wants the EU to continue providing the current zero duty benefit even after its graduation to a developing country as the Covid-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the south Asian nation’s economy.

Although global trade has been thoroughly battered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) believes the worst could be over as supply chains are slowly returning to normal due to rising demand.

The labour ministry has once again asked garment factory owners not to terminate workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Exporters of frozen food products, especially shrimp, have demanded that the government reduce corporate tax from 32.5 per cent to 15 per cent in the proposed national budget to help the sector recover from a significant fall in international sales.

Bangladesh and Bhutan on Tuesday finalised the terms and conditions for signing a preferential trade agreement (PTA) to increase bilateral trade.

Vegetable and fruit exporters have demanded the national flag carrier Biman introduce special cargo flights to reduce fares and increase the quantity of goods transported.

Leather goods manufacturers and tanners called for another emergency stimulus package for export-oriented sectors and demanded reduction in source tax to survive the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Apparel exporters and textile millers demanded the government accommodate more measures in the proposed budget to recuperate exports and buck up job creation such that the sector can weather the looming economic storm unleashed by the pandemic.

A higher allocation could have been made for the healthcare sector considering the risks posed and inadequacies in infrastructure which became very much evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the FICCI.

The government’s ambitious revenue collection target and the plan to borrow a huge sum from the banking sector to finance the budget deficit may leave the private sector and individual taxpayers in dire straits, business leaders said yesterday.

Trade body and business chamber leaders said the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is largely dependent on prompt implementation of the stimulus package.

The stimulus packages and measures announced by the government are inadequate to revive exports from the fallouts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to industry leaders.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed continuation of 1 percent additional cash incentive for the country’s garment export in 2020-21 fiscal year too, considering the economic fallout from Covid-19 pandemic.