Garment exporters have sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the recovery of some 1,500 ailing apparel factories.

The exporters also sought help in the areas of marketing capability and quality improvement to face the challenges in the post-multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) era from 2005.

The requests were made when leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had a meeting with the visiting IMF mission in Dhaka yesterday.

A six-member IMF mission headed by Chanpen Puckahtikom, assistant director of the Asia-Pacific Department, arrived in Dhaka yesterday to review the status of the economic programmes funded through the PRGF (Poverty Reduction Growth Facilities).

Mlachila and Felix JJ Vardy, economists, and Marijn Verhoeven, IMF resident representative, were present at the meeting. The team will also meet other trade bodies.

"If we don't get assistance for our capacity building, more factories will become sick and it will be very difficult for us to survive in the post-MFA era," M Jinnat Ali Mian, vice president of BGMEA, said after emerging from the meeting.

The IMF will release US$70 million second tranche of a $490 million credit under its PRGF by December if Dhaka fulfils its conditions by the time.

The IMF board approved the $490 million PRGF credit in June 20 this year and has already cleared the first installment. The total fund will be channeled in seven installments.

Under the private sector led-growth programme of PRGF, reforms in nationalised commercial banks, tax administration, and trade and privatisation of the state-owned enterprises have been included.