The government has provided BJMC with Tk 1.0 billion in loan to pay due wages to the employees and officials of state-run jute mills who have long been passing hard time for getting no payment, officials said.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) made the allocation two weeks after a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in this regard.
The Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MoTJ) sought Tk 10 billion for paying wages and gratuity to the workers and officials of the jute mills run by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and for their balancing, modernisation, rehabilitation and expansion (BMRE).
However, the MoF now agreed to allocate Tk 1.0 billion in loan. The BJMC will have to sign a loan agreement with the Finance Division to get the money.
A 5.0 per cent interest on the loan will be applicable. The BJMC will have to repay the loan within next five years by six-monthly instalments.
Sources said the MoF was dillydallying in allocating the money in favour of BJMC-run jute mills which have long been incurring loss. After failing to get the money despite its attempts, the MoTJ finally sought PMO's intervention.
Later, the PMO held a meeting with principal secretary Nojibur Rahman in the chair where present crisis of the jute industry, recognition of jute and jute goods as agri and agri-products, and providing export incentives came up for discussion.
According to sources, finance secretary Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury at the meeting said the jute mills need to make self-dependent by their modernisation, product diversification, and bringing change in their management.
He said the Finance Division has already given its consent regarding declaring jute and jute goods as agri and agri-products.
Mr Chowdhury also said export subsidy is being given to three categories of jute goods. Subsidy on diversified jute goods is 20 per cent while 10 per cent on hessian, sacking and Carpet Backing Cloth (CBC) and 5.0 per cent on jute thread.
In last 18 years, some Tk 48.23 billion was provided as export subsidy for jute goods, he noted.
Sources said the meeting formed a seven-member high-powered committee led by PMO secretary and manned by secretaries from the ministries of finance, agriculture, industries, commerce, and jute and textiles.
The BJMC chairman will act as member secretary of the body which will work to help resolve crisis in the jute sector, modernise jute mills, expand the jute goods market, bring a qualitative change in mills management, provide policy guidelines in making the BJMC a profitable concern, and monitor overall activities of the jute industry.
Presently, there are 26 jute mills under BJMC. The data showed that the BJMC-run jute mills incurred a loss of Tk 4.82 billion in the fiscal year 2016-17 while Tk 6.57 billion in the previous fiscal.
