‘Your country won’t have electricity in 2-3 months’: Power crisis fears cloud Bangladesh RMG orders, says BCI chief

Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury says some foreign buyers are shifting orders to India and other countries over fears of an energy crisis linked to the Iran war

Bangladeshi garment exporters say some foreign buyers are shifting orders to India and other countries over fears of an energy crisis linked to the war in the Middle East.

Speaking on Wednesday at a pre-budget discussion for fiscal year 2026-27 organised by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in Dhaka's Agargaon, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury said buyers had even warned that Bangladesh could face severe electricity shortages within two to three months.

“We are hearing things like: ‘In another two or three months, your country won’t have electricity,’” he said.

“They are also telling us that their top management is discouraging them from placing too many orders with us now. Those orders are already starting to move to India.”

The impact is already being felt, with expected export orders for July and August slowing sharply, according to Parvez.

“Several large buying houses have started sending us these messages,” he said.

“We are now seeing that orders for July and August have stalled. The orders that were supposed to come are arriving very slowly. Securing work orders is becoming increasingly difficult.”

Citing the situation, he proposed cutting the tax deducted at source on export earnings from 1 percent to 0.5 percent.

He warned that the sector could weaken further in the coming months and said it needed policy support.

Parvez also said businesses were being burdened by the minimum 1 percent turnover tax, even when they were incurring losses.

He also urged the government to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio.

At the discussion, the Dhaka Chamber proposed raising the tax-free income threshold for individuals to Tk 500,000, introducing an e-corporate tax return system, reducing source tax on interest from deposits and gradually phasing out the surcharge system.

The Gazipur Metropolitan Chamber proposed lowering the tax rate for unlisted companies from 27.5 percent to 25 percent.

The NBR chairman and other officials were present at the discussion.