The government has provided Tk100 crore as loan to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation to disburse among its 26 jute mills for raw jute procurement from cultivators across the country.
The corporation, however, sought Tk700 crore to buy the golden fibre during the July-August peak season.
Finance Division has promised to disburse another Tk100 crore from the government exchequer after Eid-ul-fitr holidays, according to official sources.
Textiles and jute ministry officials said the biggest problem the state-owned companies had been facing for years was that it could not buy raw jute in time.
The peak season to buy raw jute is July-August and purchase after the season sees a 50% rise in price.
Finance Division officials said the jute ministry had sought fund just two days before Eid holidays began for immediate use like payment of workers’ wages to avert agitation.
Earlier, BJMC chairman Humayun Khaled said the state-owned jute mills would not be able to procure any of raw jute from market due to fund shortage whereas the private mills were piling it on.
“We are running our mills at half of their 700 tonnes-a-day capacity for want of raw jute,” he said.