Comments
The Allahabad Bank Executive Director, Mr M R Nayak's Coimbatore visit and engagement thereon with the exporting community was not only perceived to be timely, but fruitful as well.
While bank officials sought suggestion and co-operation from the importers and exporters to grow in business, the participants used the ‘Exporter- Importer Meet' with the bank's Executive Director as a platform to voice their grievances.
Though it seemed no different from the meets that bankers organise from time to time by getting the Chief Executive of the institution meet up with select customers in major cities and town, Allahabad Bank officials used this platform to educate the exporters to hedge.
Around 70 exporters had converged at the Le Meridien here for the interaction.
Mr Nayak highlighted the investment climate, the country's position in import-export trade and urged the gathering to look at investments.
“The investment climate is good and the future belongs to us, for the world's highest remittances are coming here,” he said.
He also pointed out that the interest rate in the country was far better than rates elsewhere.
“We are passing through challenging times, but this tough period will not last for long.”
Responding to Mr Nayak's observation, the President of Tirupur Exporters' Association, Mr A. Sakthivel, reiterated the need for a separate chapter for exports in the RBI's Credit Policy.
He said the packing credit in the country was at least 5-6 per cent higher than Bangladesh and there was therefore a need to lower it.
While recapping the knitwear sector's plight in recent months on account of the sudden and spiralling increase in cotton yarn price, followed by the pollution issue and the consequent closure of the dyeing units in Tirupur, failure of Euro countries such as Greece and Spain, he said, “the US economy is showing signs of improving.
Export front
Once the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Europe is through, the country's exports to Europe would double in two-three years.
The prospects look good, but banks would have to reconsider their stance on the NPA norms, help exporters restructure accounts, extend a moratorium on repayment of all term loans and so on, to help the sector recover.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.