Bangladesh Bank said that the cumulative cash incentives, up to 12 per cent, against apparel exports would not be reduced in this fiscal year. An exporter gets up to three types of cash incentives, out of four, against apparel exports, but as per an earlier directive, they got maximum 10 per cent in cumulative cash incentives.
BB in a circular issued clarified that the provision of capping the cumulative cash incentives at 10 per cent in an earlier directive issued in 2016 had been scrapped. Apparel exporters get 4 per cent cash incentive as an alternative to duty bonds and duty drawbacks, 4 per cent for apparel products export for the small and medium industries, 4 per cent for export of new textile and garment products and expanding export of textile items to new markets, markets other than the United States, Canada and the European Union, and 2-per cent cash incentive for exports of apparel products to the EU market in addition to 4 per cent cash incentive.
A BB official said that with the new order, an apparel exporter would now get highest 12 per cent cash incentives (4+4+4) if he or she got three types of incentives. Earlier, there was a limit of 10 per cent incentives, even if the cumulative incentive was 12 per cent, he said. In September 2018, the government announced cash incentives in favour of exporters of 35 products, including apparel, for the current fiscal year of 2018-19.