The European Union plans to grant €90 million payment to one million Bangladeshi readymade garments workers, rendered jobless due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the next three months. The payment will be granted in phases. In the first phase, each of these workers will get monthly Tk3000 cash support for three months- June to August when Bangladeshi factories might experience order shortage for demand shrinkage in the western markets. Possibly the grant will be extended for a second three-month phase further.

The total size of the grant may increase further to €500 million, said Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Director, BKMEA. According to the grant the EU will give total Tk900 crore for first three months phase (Tk3,000 each to 10 lakh workers, the amount will be Tk300 crore a month) and it will be deposited to the mobile banking accounts of jobless workers. Apparel makers will share workers’ database with EU team to identify those are losing their jobs.

According to the BGMEA, more than a million RMG workers will be jobless due to the pandemic because over a thousand garment factories have already suffered about $2.97 billion worth of order cancellation and withdrawals by international brands and retailers.