BGMEA has revealed Western clothing brands that agreed not to cancel orders due to the epidemic are demanding price cuts of up to 50 per cent heaping economic pain on a country already reeling from the crisis. Millions of Bangladeshi households depend on the garment sector, which has been hit hard by the epidemic. Exports fell 84 per cent in the first half of April as $3 billion-worth of orders were cancelled or suspended.

Bangladesh, which ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to Western countries, relies on the garment industry for more than 80 per cent of its exports, with some 4,000 factories employing about 4 million people, mostly women. With Western economies struggling due to the crisis and retailers in many countries closed, brands have begun cancelling orders, though some have pledged to take delivery of already made or in production clothes. The government announced a $588 million package to help the crucial export sector pay its workers last month