Business Desk :
Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir has expressed his hope that the stable economy of the country will help attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
Moreover, few of the mega projects will be accomplished soon and help expedite the FDI inflow, he said on Saturday while addressing a webinar titled, “Bi-annual Economic State and Future Outlook of Bangladesh Economy: Private Sector Perspective”.
Joining the webinar as the chief guest, the central bank governor said the economy fell into a challenge due to Covid-19, but with the power of resilience, the private sector has performed relatively well recently. “Our GDP (gross domestic product) and total size of economy have increased which is a good sign and reflects that we are on board,” he said.
Regarding the financial sector, Fazle Kabir said the government has declared stimulus packages at the right time and there are no liquidity shortages in banks at the moment.
He also said that Bangladesh Bank is closely monitoring the inflationary pressure on the economy. At the webinar, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Md Jashim Uddin joined as the special guest while Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman presented the keynote paper. Speaking at the webinar, FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said that the prices of essential commodities in the local and international markets have increased significantly due to disruption of global supply chain.
“The cost of import and duty also increased unusually. But the country’s economy is yet to be recovered and the global supply chain system the international market becomes little bit volatile,” he said. “Under this circumstance, reformation of duty structure for a certain period is needed to tackle the inflation,” he recommended.
He said next budget should get priority on private sector, issues related to LDC graduation, revenue collection, ADP expenditure, increasing tax net etc.
DCCI Rizwan Rahman President said, “The country still could not come out of the shackle of Covid-19 pandemic. Inflation rate rose to 6.05 per cent in December last year buoyed by increased fuel price in the international markets.”
Following this, he suggested giving loan facilities to the importers of daily essentials and to cut duty on commodities import to tackle the inflation as well as compensating the agro-businesses with lower transportation and fuel cost.
