Home ›› 04 Mar 2022 ›› Front
The White House has asked lawmakers to approve $10 billion in lethal and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as part of a $32.5 billion emergency funding request sent to Capitol Hill as Russia continues its advance on Ukraine.
The request follows weeks of discussions between White House officials and lawmakers about the shape of any potential emergency request, which was expected to focus heavily on Covid-19 needs. But the escalating Russian invasion has dramatically increased the size of the request for Ukraine specifically.
Lawmakers are in the midst of negotiations over a long-term funding deal and face a March 11 deadline to reach an agreement.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh’s exports to Russia reached $ 665 million and import $ 481.88 million in the same period.
Of the export figure, $ 607 million alone came from apparel and textile items. A big volume of Bangladesh’s apparel goods enter Russia through European countries.
Gvt looks for alternative channels to trade with Russia: Kamal
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said Bangladesh will look for alternative channels like currency swap to overcome any problem in trading with Russia, hit by US-led sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
“We don’t think, the war will be long. If so, we will then think of alternative arrangements”, he told reporters after the two consecutive meetings of cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) and cabinet committee on public purchase (CCPP) on Thursday.
The CCPP approved a total of 12 procurement proposals including the import of 30,000 metric tons MOP fertiliser by Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) from Russia’s JSC Foreign Economic Corporation “Prodintorg” at Tk 150.21 crore.
The finance minister was asked about anti-Russia sanctions imposed by the European Union and some other Western countries and its backing payment through SWIFT system. So, whether Bangladesh will get its supply from Russia in time and what Bangladesh measures Dhaka will take if the payment system through SWIFT is obstructed under the current situation.
Replying to the question, Kamal said believed the war will stop soon.
“From that point of view, we are considering it. Side by side, we keep the safety net measures as well”.
He said the government is also considering the alternative sources.
“If we are not able to pay to Russia due to the SWIFT’s embargo, we have to take alternative measures through currency swap”.
He said many ways will come out. “But we want the war to stop for the sake of humanity. Kamal said the good relation between Russia and Bangladesh is undeniable.
He noted that Bangladesh’s import of the fertiliser from Russia is not new.
“We have been importing this item for long. This time we’re also trying to continue the import the item. If they fail to send the item, we will definitely find out alternative sources”, he said adding, “Until that we have continue with our current position.”
