The Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has expressed its grave concern over the crisis facing the country's newspaper industry.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Mr. A. K. Azad, President of the Association, urged the government to do the needful and help save a sick industry from ultimate ruination.
Mr. Azad said the members of NOAB in recent meetings expressed his worries over future of the newspaper industry because of the abnormal rise in prices of both imported and locally produced goods used in the publication of newspapers.
The NOAB said the newspaper industry is in a deep crisis because of the
abnormal rise in prices of relevant products due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The recant hike in prices of newspapers at the readers' level has not also helped much.
The newspaper industry also did not receive any kind of incentive during the crises, including the pandemic spell. Rather, tax burden has worsened the situation. Besides, various government agencies have not been paying arrear advertisement bills worth over Tk 1.0 billion for a long time.
Besides, NOAB has long been urging the government to reduce/waive various duties and taxes levied on the industry, but to no avail.