বাংলা | Epaper

বাংলা E-Paper 📍 Dhaka 📅 Saturday | 10 October 2026, 25 Ashswin 1433 PID registration number 06

HEADLINE

● Fossil fuel-powered ships to come under tax regime ● Ronaldo faces possible ban after leaving Portugal camp ● 4 die of dengue in a day, death toll reaches 299 ● 5,000 detained in Delhi; Mamata, Kejriwal, Dipke held ● Youth development recruitment test rescheduled for Oct 16 ● Biman plane loses wheel, makes emergency landing at Dhaka airport ● 8 more die with measles-like symptoms

Rizvi calls for banking sector reform to revive industries

Published : Saturday, 10 October, 2026 at 7:36 PM

Observer Online Report

BNP Acting Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has stressed the need to restructure the banking and financial sectors to address the ongoing crisis in the country’s textile and readymade garment industries.

He said the country’s banking sector had suffered extensive damage under the previous government. Despite limited resources, the banking and financial sectors must be restructured to ensure the necessary financing for industries.

Rizvi made the remarks at a discussion and reception ceremony at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) auditorium in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

The Association of Engineers Bangladesh (AEB) organised the event, titled ‘Steps to Address Existing Problems in the Textile Sector’, alongside a reception for the newly elected committee of the ITE.

Rizvi said the textile and readymade garment sectors were among the country’s major sources of foreign currency earnings. To resolve the crisis, the problems must be identified specifically and effective measures taken promptly.

Entrepreneurs are facing multiple challenges, including energy and power shortages, rising electricity prices, limited access to bank loans and financing, complications in opening letters of credit (LCs), and meeting international buyers’ compliance requirements, he said.

Referring to the global situation and the energy crisis, Rizvi said disruptions to energy supplies caused by international tensions and war were affecting the country’s industrial sector. Energy and power shortages had become major challenges for the textile industry.

He stressed the need for effective initiatives to maintain production and sustain the sector, which supports a large number of jobs.

Rizvi warned that Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category could create new challenges for the textile and readymade garment sectors. After graduation, European and American buyers might not remain as interested in purchasing Bangladeshi products as before, he said.

He also stressed the need to ensure adequate financial support to meet international buyers’ compliance requirements.

The BNP acting secretary general said safe and improved working conditions for workers and compliance with environmental standards must be ensured. Otherwise, international buyers might lose interest in purchasing Bangladeshi products.

Expressing optimism about turning state-owned industrial enterprises into profitable businesses, Rizvi said closed factories must be reopened and modernisation initiatives taken to increase productivity.

He said state-owned factories could become profitable if competent people were appointed to key positions and the enterprises adapted to modern technology.

He also noted that engineers’ professional skills and experience could play an important role in this process.

Referring to the government’s social safety net programmes, Rizvi said the prime minister had introduced various initiatives, including Family Cards, Farmers’ Cards, expatriate cards and health cards.

Efforts were also under way to expand social protection by providing allowances to imams, muezzins and representatives of other religious communities. He expressed hope that these initiatives would contribute positively to the country’s overall development.

Addressing the engineers, Rizvi said patriotism was the fundamental principle of nationalist ideology. Engineers had an important role to play in the country’s reconstruction and development.

He said Bangladesh could become a modern and productive country within a short time if people worked collectively for social and national welfare, rising above individual interests.

sks