Anisul Islam Noor :
Business leaders and economists have expressed concern over three-day countrywide hartal [Thursday, Sunday and Monday] called by Jamat-e-Isalmi following the death sentence against its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.
They urged the Jammat-e Islami to withdraw the hartal for the interest of country’s economy saying that the investors are becoming defaulter in paying installment of bank’s loan.
Political instability like hartal would create adverse impact on the export-oriented industries, while the exporters are already facing severe competition in international markets, they said while talking to The New Nation on Wednesday.
They said the hartal would force them to fall into uncertainty when the investors are working heart and soul to achieve
said the country’s economy suffers estimated loss of about Tk2000 crore on each day of hartal. “I admit that observing hartal is a political right of every party. But politics must not hurt common people’s interests and hinder economic progress,” said Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, President of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI). “The garment sector, which absorbs 4.5 million workers, suffers a loss of Tk250 crore on each day of hartal. And so, any loss to the sector is sure to affect the workers,” said Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
According to a study conducted by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), the country witnesses 50 hartals annually on average, and the each day loss amounts to Tk 1600 crore. It means that the country’s economy suffers losses of Tk 80, 000 crore annually.
Expressing deep frustration over political uncertainty, DCCI President M Sabur Khan said, “If there is no political violence or hartal, we can achieve a double digit GDP growth in the following fiscal year instead of existing 6 percent.”
Echoing the same, President of Dhaka Mohanagar Dokan Malik Samity, Helal Uddin, said the wholesale markets, shopping malls, showrooms and small shops together count a loss of Tk 600 crore on each day hartal. According to a statistic the loss of each day hartal stands at Tk 2157 crore. In 1947-58 period, the average number of hartal per year including local hartals was 1.5 days, in 1967-70 period , it were12.7 days, 1971-74 period 12 days, it became 14.4 days in 1975-86 period, 81.6 days during 1987-90 period, 72 days during 1991-94 period, 93 days during 1995-98 period and110.6 days during 1999-2000 period (source: Beyond Hartals, Dhaka: UNDP, 2005). During 2001-2006 period, a total of 173 days of nationwide hartals were enforced, while we could not yet collect the number of local hartals during that period. Preliminary estimate tells from early 2009 till today, there has been about 50 days of nationwide hartals, another survey of UNDP said.
