The leaders of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) today urged the central bank to extend the time of Usance Paid At Sight (UPAS) LC or deferred LC payment to 360 days from the existing 180 days as the dollar crisis deepens.

The time limit of payment for industrial raw materials under the deferred LC is 180 days, but it got difficult to pay for the current dollar crisis, BTMA said in a statement today.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of BTMA, requested the central bank to extend the time of payment to 360 days from 180 days, according to the statement.

Khokon also requested the newly appointed central bank governor, Abdur Rouf Talukder, to fix the time to two years for making payment for capital machinery under UPAS LC.

In response to the BTMA, the central bank governor said a circular will be published soon by the Bangladesh Bank on increasing the time limit for raw material import from 180 days to 360 days, the BTMA statement also said.

In the meeting, Ahmed Jamal, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank; Harunur Rashid, additional director; Md Fazlul Hoque, vice-president of BTMA; Md Saleudh Zaman Khan, Syed Enayat Kabir and Razeeb Haider, Estahak Ahmed Saikat, Md. Fayazur Rahman Bhuiyan, Rashidul Hasan Rinto, directors, and Monsoor Ahmed, additional director, were also present at the meeting.