Corruption No 1 woe for business

Special Correspondent :
Corruption continues to be the number one problem in the country’s business sector in 2023.

In support of the finding, 68 per cent of businessmen have opined that the sector was plagued with high levelof irregularities and malpractices in the outgoing year while this percentage was 64.6 per cent in 2022.

About 55 per cent traders think inefficient bureaucracy is the second barrier, while 46 per cent of businessmen consider the stability of foreign currency as the third major problem in business.

In a study conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in May-July last year, 67.61 per cent of businessmen said corruption was the biggest impediment to doing business in 2023.

The CPD disclosed the study report through a press briefing held at its Dhanmondi office in the city on Wednesday.

CPD Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem highlighted various aspects of the study report titled “Bangladesh Business Environment Study 2023: Findings from the Executive Opinion Survey.”

The CPD has identified 17 major problems in business. Excluding the three top barriers, the other major problems are-inadequate infrastructure, high inflation, financing constraints, complex of tax policies, frequent policy changes, lack of skilled labour, lack of innovation capacity, poor morale in the labour force, high tax rates, climate change, government instability, crime and theft, restrictive Labour laws and weak health systems.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem said businessmen have a fear about inadequate energy supply in the coming years and corruption.

He said, “Our business environment is not better than our competitor countries in Asia.”

“Limited effective measures to curb corruption as well as lack of transparency and accountability in the business process carried out by the public agencies such as licensing, logistics and service-providing activities weaken the business environment,” he added.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem also said 66.20 per cent businessmen are also anxious about the supply of fuel in the next two years. CPD conducted the study by talking to 71 businessmen of Bangladesh.

After corruption, inefficient government bureaucracy (54.9% of respondents) and foreign currency instability (46.5%) topped the list of most problematic factors.

The severity of these three problematic factors has increased compared to the previous years.

Before 2022, foreign currency instability ranked among the bottom three, but it has jumped to the top five in the last two years.

Inflation (39.4 per cent in 2023) has been ranked as the fifth most important factor for the last two years, whereas it was in the bottom three in the previous years.

Foreign currency instability has risen from being among the “bottom three” to the “top five” in the last two years, finds the study.

Fifty per cent businessmen have also said they are unable to import products due to the ongoing dollar crisis.

The research also states that 58 per cent of businessmen said there is a lack of monitoring and supervision in the banking sector.