Bangladesh boosts credit for apparel exporters

BANGLADESH: Bank boosts credit facilities for apparel exporters

By Siddique Islam | 7 November 2012

The central bank of Bangladesh has enhanced the credit facilities available to apparel exporters after increasing its export development fund (EDF).

"We've increased the amount of EDF to US$600m from $500m," a senior official at the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said.

The move is intended to help exporters - especially apparel exporters - faced with lower export growth due to the ongoing global economic meltdown.

Bangladesh's export earnings grew by 2.0% to $6.291bn in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Under the EDF scheme, the central bank provides short-term liquidity to exporters through commercial banks to help with financing imports of raw materials, accessories, spare parts and packing materials under export letters of credit (Lcs). There is a single borrowing limit of $10m.

The move "will help the country's exporters to meet their short-term liquidity requirements," Mahiuddin Faruqui, vice president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told just-style.

Sectors: Apparel, Manufacturing, Sourcing