The woven and knitwear industries will receive support from the government's stimulus package, to combat global recession fallout, finance minister AMA Muhit said on Wednesday. The support will be provided according to details to be worked out by a working committee this month, Muhith told reporters after attending the second meeting of the government's recession taskforce.

A decision was taken to help the ship building sector too, bringing it under the stimulus package, said the finance minister. Regarding other recession effects, he said the global slowdown did not lower the rate of Bangladesh's manpower export, "The media reports saying that manpower export has fallen are not correct." "Up until Sept 15 this year a total of three lakh 61 thousand workers went abroad. The number is lower than the same period in 2008, but higher than 2006 and 2007."

Muhith said, "We called it 'a great recession' when we announced the package back in April. But the global scenario has changed since and we hope that it will not affect our economy too seriously in the long-run." Representatives of garment industries, armed with statistics, have nevertheless stated that the global crisis had badly harmed their exports, said Muhith. "So we have decided to assist them," he added. "A decision was made to form a working committee within days to figure out the amount and manner of allocation. The committee will submit its report by October, and the aid will be provided in line with its recommendations."

Muhith said, "The government's stimulus package, to combat recession effects, has from the start been an evolving programme. The affected sectors of our economy will be provided financial and strategic aid under the stimulus." Wednesday's meeting was held at the conference centre of the National Economic Council at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar six months after the first sitting of the taskforce.

The government formed the 27-member recession taskforce, which includes politicians, economists and business representatives, in March, with its first meeting on March 24. In April, the government announced a proposed stimulus package of Tk 3,424 crore, based on recommendations made in the meeting. However, the two major trade bodies of the garments industry, the BGMEA and BKMEA, were highly critical as the huge export-earning RMG sector was excluded altogether from the proposed package.

The two trade bodies later welcomed the revised Tk 5,000 crore package included in the FY 2009-10 budget, although they again expressed concern that the RMG sector still received no specific allocation. On Sept 3, BGMEA president Salam Murshedi said the sector required its own financial package of Tk 3,000 crore by Sep 7 to salvage the industry and help clear worker wages and allowances ahead of Eid. The ultimatum was widely criticised by government, workers, unions and even other business organisations. Muhith had rejected the demand, saying it was not right for the industry leaders to link the issue of financial support with worker dues ahead of Eid.

The BGMEA later issued an apology for their request, saying "mistakes in language" and "frustration deriving from the global recession" had prompted their appeal. BGMEA president Salam Murshedi made an formal apology in Wednesday's meeting, several members of the taskforce told bdnews24.com. Murshedi said after the meeting, "The finance minister and other members of the taskforce have admitted the negative effect of the recession on the RMG sector. That is why they assured to help this sector." BKMEA president Fazlul Haque said, "We have been saying for months that recession affected the RMG sector. Today's meeting of the taskforce formally recognised that."

Muhith said the meeting also discussed timely salaries and Eid bonuses for workers, and security issues inside garment factories. He said the meeting touched on other economic issues too. "We talked about the future of the economy. Investment is very low. Problems have been created due to shortage of gas and electricity." The finance minister said the government had taken many steps to minimise power shortages. He said taskforce members also emphasised creating an investment friendly environment. They suggested to speed up implementation of the Annual Development Plan (ADP).

Commerce minister Faruk Khan said Bangladesh was less affected by the global economic downturn than any other country in the world. "Our exports increased 11 percent compared to last year despite the global recession." He said friendly policies and infrastructure facilities will be provided to further enhance export and investment. The prime minister's planning adviser Moshiur Rahman said, "The recession should be tackled with mutual trust and understanding. Neither government nor businessmen should feel under pressure."

-bdnews