Govt eases rules for duty-free import
Export-oriented industries in Bangladesh have been allowed to import the raw materials needed for six months duty-free under the bonded warehouse facility, the government said yesterday, in a major boost to the manufacturing sector.
Earlier, manufacturers could bring in the raw materials and packaging materials for four months of their capacity.
The decision came as the cabinet committee on economic affairs approved an amendment to the import policy order yesterday, Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary of the cabinet division, told reporters after the meeting.
The committee also gave its consent to another amendment to the order, which sought to double the volume of grey fabrics and yarn that export-oriented specialised textile, woven, dyeing and spinning mills are allowed to import under the bonded warehouse facility, which allows the duty-free purchase of raw materials.
So far, exporters were permitted to import a maximum of 33 per cent of the raw materials needed for four months. It will now go up to 60 per cent of their six-month production capacity.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal chaired the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Kamal said he was hopeful that remittance would return to normalcy within the next three months.
In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the remittance inflow dropped 19.44 per cent year-on-year to $5.41 billion.
Last year, remittance inflow totalled about $25 billion. This year, it is expected that Bangladesh will receive around $22-$23 billion of remittance this year, Kamal said.
Many Bangladeshis returned home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and they are yet to go back. As a result, the remittance inflow slowed, he said.
"They are now going back slowly. It will return to normalcy in the next three months."
The meeting approved a proposal to buy two helicopters from Russia for Bangladesh Police.
The cabinet committee on purchase gave its consent to a proposal to import one lakh tonnes of wheat from Russia under a government-to-government arrangement at the cost of Tk 357.61 crore.
It gave its nod to buy 33.60 lakh million British thermal units (MMBTUs) of liquefied natural gas from Vitol Asia Pte Ltd of Singapore at the cost of about Tk 1,205.72 crore. Each MMBTU will cost $35.89.
Another 33.60 lakh MMBTUs of LNG will be bought from Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd for Tk 1,241.22 crore, with the price standing at $36.95 per MMBTU.
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