Govt savings tool takes Tk3,000cr hit amid inflation

Business Report :
The net sales of the government’s savings tools registered a negative growth of Tk3,106 crore in the first half of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as inflation forced people to encash their savings certificates.
Between July-December, people encashed their savings tools worth Tk43,578 crore against a fresh investment of Tk40,471 crore, according to the Bangladesh Bank’s data.
In the last fiscal, the sales of savings tools registered a positive growth of Tk9,589 crore for the same period.
Industry insiders attributed the negative growth to different factors including high inflation and making tax return certificates mandatory for the savers.
They said the crisis of dollars has worsened inflation and affected employment opportunities.
The cost of living has increased even though the income remained the same, forcing people to encash their savings to bear their families.
Besides, fresh job opportunities were not created as the establishment of new industries has reduced thanks to a decline in the import of capital mechanaries owing to the dollar crisis.
The government set a target to borrow Tk35,000 crore from savings certificates in the current fiscal.