Bangladesh, May 13 -- The Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) has urged Bangladesh Bank to introduce long-term financing, lower lending rates, and relax loan classification rules to support industries struggling under mounting financial pressure.

The demands were placed before the central bank governor during a meeting on Tuesday where business leaders discussed the challenges facing the manufacturing sector.

In a letter submitted after the meeting, the chamber said many factories were under severe stress due to high interest rates, rising energy costs, gas shortages, inflation, political uncertainty, and weak consumer demand.

The organisation, led by its president Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), said industries needed access to ...