The cash incentive to frozen food exports has been increased by 2.5 percentage point to 10% to give a cushion to the exporters for the fiscal year 2013-14.
Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on Sunday, in accordance with a government decision, asking the commercial banks to facilitate the exporters with the new rate of cash incentive instead of existing 7.5%.
On July 7, the central bank had issued a circular stating the shrimp exporters to get 7.5% cash incentive against their export while incentives for other fish were withdrawn for the FY 2013-14. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had decided to increase the cash incentive for frozen food sector, except hilsha and white fish, for the fiscal year 2013-14.
In the first quarter of the current fiscal, frozen food exports registered substantial rise by about 48% to US$191m compared to $129.5m of the same period last year due to increase in shrimp prices in the global market.
Meanwhile, frozen foods exports recorded 9% fall to $544m in 2012-13 fiscal year as fish production fell due to disease in prawn.
“It will help the frozen food exporters to reach the export target,” said an executive of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association. The government has set a frozen food export target of $578.77m for the current fiscal year.