Editorial Desk :
Commercial banks are alleged to have been manipulating the dollar rate which at the kerb market reached as high as Tk 119 a few days ago. The price was the highest in these days of market volatility as global inflation has gripped the dollar rate against different currencies of the world. To prevent manipulation, Bangladesh Bank on Sunday judiciously ordered banks to set a rational spread between buying and selling rate of dollar. In that direction, it has fixed a spread of Tk 1 to stabilise the foreign currency market.
Earlier, though a maximum spread of Tk 1 was the norm, it was not followed by the banks. According to reports of national dailies, currently banks are selling a dollar for up to Tk 108 to importers although they purchased the greenback at Tk 94 from exporters with a spread of Tk 14. The decision of fixing the rate is not new in Bangladesh, but the central bank has revived the old system in these days of emergency.
To stop the falling reserves, the government has taken various measures including exercising austerity in government spending, rationing electricity as well as asking for $4.5 billion from the IMF. For this it has already increased the fuel price, as a precondition for IMF loan, by a record margin that has pushed prices of daily necessities beyond the purchasing capacity of a large section of people.
Poverty is stalking everywhere. There are now no more stories of ‘development’ in the mouth of people in the government. Even while inaugurating the Padma Bridge about one month and three weeks ago, the government boasted Bangladesh’s economic development in that it had successfully built the bridge with its own money. The nation could have been really happy if this development would have been solid despite the fact that the government’s legitimacy has been seriously in question, always.
Free indulging in corruption and neglecting public interest has been touted as a huge development by the government. Such development has made men in
government hugely rich and politics a corruption business. Moreover, the government found it easy to use the slavish educated men and women to cooperate.
Bangladesh economy is now in a dire strait and mere cosmetic measures will not help recover it as economists predict that the situation will get worse in the coming days. Even in these critical days, it has been alleged that capital flight from the country is taking place, but the government is telling the public that money laundering is not a problem.
People now doubt whether the government has any control over the administration to help the people or change the inherent incompetence.
Any sensible government under the present circumstances would have resigned in favour of an emergency government. The situation has broken the government itself. The government has become a personal affair of satisfying personal whims as it treats the people as nobody. The people are faced with an economic crisis of survival.
