Garment manufacturers on Saturday welcomed the budget for FY2021-22, calling it business-friendly and pro employment generation.
But they also said that the national budget excluded some proposals proposed by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) aimed to support the RMG industries.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan expressed the trade body’s position during a post-budget press conference organized at BGMEA Complex in the capital on Saturday.
They also demanded continuation of the existing 0.5 percent source tax for the next five years though they proposed reducing it to 0.25 pc before the budget, as the finance minister did not clearly mention the rate of source tax during his budget speech on Thursday.
“The frequent changes of source tax would hamper business plans. We demanded continuation of the existing rate of 0.5% for long-term business planning,” said Faruque Hassan.
He also termed the proposed budget for the next fiscal year very significant as the country celebrates 50 years of independence and given the situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is a budget to turn Bangladesh around socially and economically from the shaky situation created by Covid-19. When almost all economic indicators are down, the target of 7.2% GDP growth and 25% FDI encourages us. Achieving these goals is not possible without the growth of the industry,” he also said.
The budget may seem challenging in the current context where the second wave of pandemic is underway and the fear of the third wave is not overruled, Bgmea boss also said.
