Opportunities must before loan defaulters’ declaration
UNB, Dhaka :
The new president of the country’s apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), has already written to the Bangladesh Bank seeking opportunities for businesses struggling to pay instalments against loans to turn around their fortunes before declaring them loan defaulters.
He also believes heightened inflation is a global issue, rather than unique to Bangladesh, as prices of daily essentials and energy have witnessed spikes across the world, including the USA and Europe.
Bangladesh is trying to curb inflation, but the global supply chain disruption creates crises on the supply side, which is the cause of the price hike in some cases, he pointed out.
Talking to UNB, Mahbubul Alam gave his opinions on different issues including inflation, the dollar crisis, export diversification, and the challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mahbubul was elected the new president of the FBCCI as a leader of the Sammilito Oikko Parishad, for the 2023-25 tenure.
The election was held on July 31 and he took charge as the president on August 14.
He also serves as the president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
Beyond his business acumen, Mahbubul Alam has received recognition in the form of CIP (Trade) and CIP (Industry) Awards from the commerce ministry.
He is also a committed philanthropist, contributing to various social causes.
Internationally, he is the recipient of a “Certificate of Merit” from the World Customs Organization.
Mahbubul said in the present economic reality, suppose an entrepreneur has 12 factories; among those, one or two will have fallen into problems, but the other 10 would be running well.
In this situation, if the business group was declared a defaulter, he said, the entrepreneur would not run the other factories, and a large number of employees would lose their jobs.
He acknowledged that in the last two years, a huge volume of loans went into default as many businessmen were not paying their instalments.
The FBCCI chief said the apex trade body has already written a letter to the Bangladesh Bank to not declare any company a defaulter without understanding the reality.
