BKMEA wants extension of stimulus loan deadline
The knitwear organisation said around 80 percent of workers are yet to open bank accounts due to the shutdown
The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) has asked the Bangladesh Bank to extend the deadline for submitting loan applications to April 30.
Earlier the Bangladesh Bank issued circulars fixing April 20 as the deadline to apply for the loan offered by the government as a stimulus to pay workers of export-oriented factories.
The knitwear organisation said around 80 percent of workers are yet to open bank accounts due to "partial or complete lockdown" prevailing across the country, reads a press release.
Moreover, to fill up form-D of factories and then verify it from BKMEA is a time-consuming matter, the press release adds.
Considering all the aforementioned issues, it is not possible to submit applications by April 20, said BKMEA.
To help the export-oriented industries survive the crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus outbreak, the government announced a Tk5,000 crore stimulus package for the industries to pay wages to their workers for three months – April, May and June.
