Beximco protests TIB statement

Beximco Group yesterday protested a public statement of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) issued on September 13 and remarks of its executive director.

In the letter signed by its Chairman ASF Rahman, Beximco said, “We feel extremely insulted by the executive director calling us ‘plunderers’.”

Beximco said the public statement issued by the TIB and remarks of its executive director, published in The Daily Star newspaper the next day, have come to their attention.

It said among other scurrilous allegations, The Daily Star quotes the TIB executive director as saying, “Taking the advantage of loan rescheduling, a section of the plunderers gets the opportunity to become lawmakers.”

Beximco said since the statement prominently conjoins a recent rescheduling of loans granted to Beximco Group, there were sufficient reasons to assume that the insinuation was aimed at its Vice-Chairman Salman Fazlur Rahman.

“We are, therefore, surprised by the TIB statement referring to us as ‘a top-ranking loan defaulter’.”

Citing media reports, the TIB statement focused on a case of rescheduling of loans granted to Beximco Group.

Beximco said when the restructuring was being done, as per the guidelines of Bangladesh Bank, they commissioned an independent audit firm approved by the bank to determine the potential cash flow in the years ahead.

It said the auditor recommended that they be to grant 12 years to repay the entire loan. However, the Bangladesh Bank divided their loans as term loans and working capital loans, and granted a six-year repayment period for working capital loans, although at that time they had informed the bank that their cash flow might not support a six-year repayment period, the letter read.

The bank’s executive branch did not make any decision regarding this. Rather, the application was raised in its board meeting, Beximco said.

“We believe it is within our rights as a company to present our case to the central bank if we face any problem,” the letter said.

“During the last 11 years, in addition to making huge contributions to various sectors of the country’s domestic market, we have also exported products worth over $3 billion. I am sure you will agree that our contribution to the country’s GDP is significant,” it said.