Dhaka, Aug. 11 -- Apparel exporters have urged the government to reinstate cash incentives at pre-2024 rates and scrap the procedural requirements that they say are inflating costs and undermining the ease of doing business.

At a meeting with the finance ministry on Sunday, industry leaders pressed for restoring the local yarn incentive to 3.0 per cent and the general export incentive to 1.0 per cent, maintaining these until 2029 under provisions allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Under WTO rules, countries are permitted to provide such subsidies for a three-year grace period after graduating from least developed country (LDC) status.

The stakeholders raised these demands during a meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat, chai...