‘Growing political unrest will deepen economic misery’
Staff Reporter :
The growing political unrest across the country ahead of twelfth parliamentary electionwill exacerbate further economic misery as economy experienced downslides in recent months.
GDP growth has slowed down, inflation soared up by a record margin along with Taka being sharply depreciating and the foreign currency reserves decreasing by $1 billion every month since 2022.
Now, as the political turmoil aggravates due to the BNP is calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down, arguing that a free and fair national election is only possible under a neutral government.
By contrast, Awami League is saying that the next election will be held under the existing constitutional provision keeping the government in office.
The economy would face added challenges, shattering people’s hopes of overcoming the struggle by fixing domestic challenges.
Experts observed that unlike during the previous elections in 2008, 2014, and 2018, the economic situation ahead of the next election had already been in a downturn due to the ongoing high inflation, shrinking forex reserve, declining remittance inflow, export income and the high growth of non-performing loans in the banking sector.
The addition of internal political crises to international issues will have severe repercussions on the overall economy.
If there is a disruption in the domestic supply chain, it will inevitably lead to higher product prices in the market and disruptions in industrial production, they added.
Economists and business leaders have expressed their concern that the growing political instability in the country in the lead-up to the upcoming national polls could disrupt industrial production and trade.
Amid the day-long hartal on Sunday Banks see decreased customer footfall.Addressing the transaction a bank official of the Motijheel branch of Sonali Bank said “On a regular day, the transactions at our local office surpass Tk1,000 crore. But today, the transaction did not even reach Tk500 crore. Customer presence was exceptionally low”.
Fazlul Hoque, a former president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the macroeconomic situation is in a tough situation.
“If the political situation deteriorates, it will aggravate the economic situation. So, we are concerned. A peaceful solution is necessary now.”
The problem of Bangladesh’s economy is depleting reserves as import cost continues to be higher than export receipts and remittance inflow coming through informal channels.
Remittance earnings slipped 13 percent year-on-year in September when migrant workers sent home $1.34 billion. The receipts were the lowest in 41 months.
Exports, the other major source of foreign currencies, brought home $4.3 billion, up 10.4 percent year-on-year but the lowest amount in three months.
Ahsan H. Mansoor, Executive Director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), addressing the current political situation and its impact on the economy saying ‘The matter of concern is that even after 52 years of independence, we have not been able to achieve an effective democratic environment. ‘
