The economic activities across the country get a fresh momentum centering cattle trade ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
The religious festival triggered huge cash transaction to buy and sale of animals to be sacrificed during the Eid.
According to Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), about 55-60 lakh cattle are likely to be slaughtered in this year’s Eid hitting the overall cattle trade of nearly Tk 30,000 crore and rawhide trade of Tk 2,500 crore.
Of the total, about 50 lakh are cows and buffaloes and 10 lakh goats and sheep, tanners said.
“The national economy gets a fresh boost from the transaction of meaty money. The spillover effect of the spending of billions of taka on Eid-ul-Azha is huge,” Dr MA Mazid, former chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) told The New Nation yesterday.
Dr Mazid said, cattle farmers, traders, transporters, butchers and seasonal workers all gain from the Eid. “Overseas Bangladeshis send remittance to their relatives to perform this ritual on their behalf and other purposes every year boosting the rural economy, the former NBR chairman said.
Besides, he said, a big amount of money to be changed hands from the illegal cattle trade in borders will also have significant economic impact.”
Dr Mazid mentioned that Eid-ul-Azha is also the main season for producing hides and skins. Over 50 per cent rawhides and skins are to be collected for local leather following the celebration of this festival. Spices and electronic gadgets witness bumper sales hovering billions of taka ahead of Eid.
“It is difficult to measure the exact size of economic activity generated every year on Eid-ul-Azha, but we are convinced that the size of business activities is in billions of taka,” Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Additional Research Director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The New Nation yesterday.
He said Eid-ul-Azha sends stimulus for Bangladesh economy and significantly contributes to GDP growth which now stands at 7 per cent.
“Many industries in Bangladesh also receive direct and indirect benefit on Eid-ul-Azha,” he added.
When asked, Dr Golam Moazzem said although the economy as a whole get the benefit from the business activities during Eid, the main stimulus goes to the rural economy.
For example, when cattle farmers, traders and investors get returns on their annual investments during Eid, they spend the money to various purposes, spurring the rural economy.
“The foreign remittance coming to Bangladesh on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha may not bring any big change in the overall economic situation of Bangladesh. But it increases consumption of the rural population leaving a positive impact on the economy,” he added.
“Both cattle and rawhide trade during Eid-ul-Azha always plays a significant role for the development of local leather industry. So, it is one of the festivals for which we wait throughout the year,” Shaheen Ahmed, Chairman of BTA told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the country’s leather industry gets over 50 per cent of its raw material (animals skins and hides) from sacrificial animals during Eid-ul-Azha.
“We are expecting to procure over 300 million square feet of rawhide and skin in this year’s Eid,” he added.
He said despite a steep rise in the prices of animals and an overall increase in inflation, the trend of slaughtering animals on Eid-ul-Azha has grown over the last few years.
According to him, the total value of rawhide trade would hit over Tk 2,500 crore this year.
