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The finance ministry has given Tk 1.0 billion as loan, subject to some conditions, to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) to pay wages and allowances to the workers and employees under the state agency's mills.
The amount of money has been allocated to pay wage arrears and other allowances to the staff of BJMC's 26 loss-making mills for four months since August 19, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MoTJ) on Tuesday.
The allocation, which would be considered as government loan, has been made to BJMC from 'unexpected expenditure' of the budget for the current fiscal year 2019-20, it added.
One precondition is that the loan has to be repaid by half-yearly instalments within 20 years at a rate of 5.0 per cent interest.
It also includes a grace period of five years. Another condition, among others, included that the money could not be used for any other purposes. To this end, an agreement would be signed between finance division and BJMC.
Earlier on November 13, the MoTJ sought a fresh allocation of over Tk 11 billion from the government for the state-run BJMC for procuring raw jute in the fiscal year 2019-20 and payment of jute workers and employees' dues, officials said.
Of the amount, Tk 10 billion would be spent on jute procurement by BJMC and Tk 1.30 billion on payment of wages and allowances to the workers of the state agency, they added.