All textile mills to shut indefinitely from Feb 1

The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association has announced that all textile mills will remain closed indefinitely from February 1, citing the government’s failure to take “effective measures” to protect the country’s yarn-producing mills.

The announcement was made on Thursday, January 22, at a press conference held at the BTMA office in Karwan Bazar, where the organisation’s president, Showkat Aziz Russell, addressed the media.

“At the start of the month, factories will be shut. We will shut them down anyway, and we have no capacity to repay bank loans,” he said.

Describing the owners’ current financial distress, he added, “Our capital has been reduced by half. There is no way to repay bank loans. Even if we sell all our assets, it will not be possible to clear the liabilities.”

He further alleged that despite approaching various government offices to resolve the crisis, no solution had been forthcoming.

Referring to bureaucratic complications, the BTMA president said, “We have gone to every ministry and every department. They are only passing responsibility to one another, like pillow passing.”