Bangladesh garment manufacturers and exporters want a ten-year loan rescheduling. They also want the government to provide gas connection on a priority basis.
The readymade garment sector faced challenges from January to March this year due to political unrest. Due to the blockade in the first quarter of this year, supply of raw materials and accessories and transport were affected, so garment manufacturers could not finish products on time and as a result shipments suffered.
In 1983-84, readymade garment exports stood at 3.89 per cent of the country’s total exports. It was 79.61 per cent in 2012-13 and 81.16 per cent in 2013-14. Among other pressures on the readymade garment sector are the devaluation of the dollar in the international market.
In the 40 years since independence, the poverty rate has plummeted from 80 per cent down to less than 30 per cent today, GDP growth has averaged around five to six per cent for over 20 years, and the garment industry has had a lot to do with it.
Bangladesh rose to its position largely because of its lack of regulation and the low wages it pays its garment workers. Bangladesh’s minimum wage for the sector is one of the world’s lowest.
