Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that India’s garment and knitted fabric sector is experiencing some “uncertainty” due to the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh and expressed hope that the interim government in Bangladesh will resolve the situation “sooner rather than later.”
Speaking to the media after a post-Budget address to the Reserve Bank of India’s central board, Sitharaman noted that efforts are underway to ensure border safety with Bangladesh.
She acknowledged that Indian investments, particularly from the textile industry in Tamil Nadu, have been successful, and that exports from Bangladesh to India have increased due to duty and quota relaxations for low-income countries.
“The exports from Bangladesh also increased because of the duty and quota liberal approach that we have towards low-income countries. They (Indian garment industry based in Bangladesh) could even export to India.”
“I hope that the investments are all safe… it’s too early for me to see what kind of an impact this situation in Bangladesh will have on our economy. I hope that the interim government will settle things sooner rather than later so that both the people of Bangladesh and India can get back to normalcy,” she said, as quoted by PTI.
Bangladesh’s political landscape shifted dramatically earlier this week when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, leading to the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of an interim government. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over as interim leader, has begun assembling his 16-member advisory council and appointed a former diplomat to lead the foreign ministry.
Yunus’s primary task is to stabilize the country following widespread protests against Hasina’s government over a controversial job quota system.