Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
As the ongoing political turmoil is taking a heavy toll on trade and commerce, a growing fear from the situation will leave an immediate, short and long-term impact on Bangladesh economy, country’s leading economists warned on Friday.
They said that the volatile political situation has created panic among the local and foreign investors resulting in fall of business and economic activities in the country.
“Economy is now in the grip of fear factor. This (fear factor) is likely to leave an immediate, short and long-term impact on it,” Dr Zahid Hussain, lead economist of World Bank’s (WB) Dhaka office told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the immediate impact of the fear factor is production loss. Marketing of goods and commodities are being hampered seriously due to hartal and blockade causing production loss to the manufacturing units.
“The farm sector is also affected this time as farmers are unable to sell their produces due to disruption in transportation, posing an immediate threat on economy,” he added.
Dr Zahid further said that all economic sectors have more or less affected by the long-spell of hartal and indefinite blockade. But the service sector suffers most from it followed by retail and wholesale business, hotel and tourism.
“These are major job providing sectors. As these sectors are witnessing a dull business, it is affecting income of thousands of people,” he noted.
According to him, Bangladesh economy is largely dependent on exports. The available data shows that shipments are not much affected by the ongoing turmoil. That is because the exporters are executing their previous export orders braving all odds..
“But export will be declined in the coming months as the buyers have stopped placing new orders against the backdrop of political turmoil. If export faces setback, it will affect the economy badly,” he noted.
He said that political impasse has created a confidence crisis among the foreign investors and buyers. This will further deepen the investment crunch prevailing now in the country. This will harm long-term capital accumulation, job creation and productivity of the economy.
“Political stability is one of the key components to attract both local and foreign investment. If it is not maintained, it will dampen the long-term investment prospect of a country. So, Bangladesh should address the issue immediately for its development and achieve a higher GDP growth,” he said.
“The current turmoil has created a fear among the businessmen and investors and its implication would be severe on the economy,” said Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a noted economist of the country.
He said, the ongoing political unrest is wrecking havoc on commodity supply-chain, export-import, manufacturing and tourism and farm sectors. It is also badly affecting the livelihood of day labourers, transport workers, small businessmen and many more.
“The fear factor is forcing the foreign investors and buyers to cancel their visit to Bangladesh. It will hurt foreign direct investment, exports and job creation in immediate, short and long-term basis,” he added.
“Bangladesh is in the grips of the worst political crisis in its history, with bomb blast and arson attack and halt in transportation. This has created panic among the businessmen and investors,” said Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, a former governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The economic impact of the fear factor will be enormous if it prolongs, he said.
“Businesses are suffering huge losses inflicted by a prolonged disruption in production and trade due to destructive political programmes. It has worsened the health of the banking sector, which is also a matter of concern,” added Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
The former BB governor mentioned that the economy of Bangladesh is facing three sets of formidable challenges and these are maintaining political stability and resolving the remaining uncertainties while boosting investment.
As the ongoing political turmoil is taking a heavy toll on trade and commerce, a growing fear from the situation will leave an immediate, short and long-term impact on Bangladesh economy, country’s leading economists warned on Friday.
They said that the volatile political situation has created panic among the local and foreign investors resulting in fall of business and economic activities in the country.
“Economy is now in the grip of fear factor. This (fear factor) is likely to leave an immediate, short and long-term impact on it,” Dr Zahid Hussain, lead economist of World Bank’s (WB) Dhaka office told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the immediate impact of the fear factor is production loss. Marketing of goods and commodities are being hampered seriously due to hartal and blockade causing production loss to the manufacturing units.
“The farm sector is also affected this time as farmers are unable to sell their produces due to disruption in transportation, posing an immediate threat on economy,” he added.
Dr Zahid further said that all economic sectors have more or less affected by the long-spell of hartal and indefinite blockade. But the service sector suffers most from it followed by retail and wholesale business, hotel and tourism.
“These are major job providing sectors. As these sectors are witnessing a dull business, it is affecting income of thousands of people,” he noted.
According to him, Bangladesh economy is largely dependent on exports. The available data shows that shipments are not much affected by the ongoing turmoil. That is because the exporters are executing their previous export orders braving all odds..
“But export will be declined in the coming months as the buyers have stopped placing new orders against the backdrop of political turmoil. If export faces setback, it will affect the economy badly,” he noted.
He said that political impasse has created a confidence crisis among the foreign investors and buyers. This will further deepen the investment crunch prevailing now in the country. This will harm long-term capital accumulation, job creation and productivity of the economy.
“Political stability is one of the key components to attract both local and foreign investment. If it is not maintained, it will dampen the long-term investment prospect of a country. So, Bangladesh should address the issue immediately for its development and achieve a higher GDP growth,” he said.
“The current turmoil has created a fear among the businessmen and investors and its implication would be severe on the economy,” said Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a noted economist of the country.
He said, the ongoing political unrest is wrecking havoc on commodity supply-chain, export-import, manufacturing and tourism and farm sectors. It is also badly affecting the livelihood of day labourers, transport workers, small businessmen and many more.
“The fear factor is forcing the foreign investors and buyers to cancel their visit to Bangladesh. It will hurt foreign direct investment, exports and job creation in immediate, short and long-term basis,” he added.
“Bangladesh is in the grips of the worst political crisis in its history, with bomb blast and arson attack and halt in transportation. This has created panic among the businessmen and investors,” said Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, a former governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
The economic impact of the fear factor will be enormous if it prolongs, he said.
“Businesses are suffering huge losses inflicted by a prolonged disruption in production and trade due to destructive political programmes. It has worsened the health of the banking sector, which is also a matter of concern,” added Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
The former BB governor mentioned that the economy of Bangladesh is facing three sets of formidable challenges and these are maintaining political stability and resolving the remaining uncertainties while boosting investment.
