Economy resilient, no liquidity shortage in banks: BB Governor
The economy faced a challenge for the Covid-19 pandemic but with the power of the resilient private sector of Bangladesh, the economy is performing relatively well in recent past, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Fazle Kabir on Saturday.
“Our GDP and total size of the economy have increased which is a good sign and it reflects that we are on board,” he said, reports news agency UNB.
The government has declared a stimulus package at the right time and there is no liquidity shortage in banks since the inception of the pandemic period to this moment, Kabir said.
The BB governor came up with the remarks while addressing as the chief guest in a webinar organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on ‘Bi-annual Economic State and Future outlook of Bangladesh Economy: Private Sector Perspective’ held on Saturday.
FBCCI (Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries) president Md. Jashim Uddin joined the programme as the special guest. DCCI president Rizwan Rahman presented the keynote paper at the webinar.
The BB is closely monitoring the inflationary pressure on the economy. In terms of export diversification, besides the RMG sector, our light engineering, jute, leather, ICT and pharmaceutical sectors are doing better
“The BB is closely monitoring the inflationary pressure on the economy. In terms of export diversification, besides the RMG sector, our light engineering, jute, leather, ICT and pharmaceutical sectors are doing better,” he added.
“We need to nurture these sectors for better diversification. Considering the export competitiveness, the EDF (Export Development Fund) facility has been extended,” he said.
He also hoped that a stable economy would help attract more FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). Moreover, few of the mega projects will be completed soon and that will help expedite FDI inflow, he mentioned.
Kabir also urged for enhancing soft and hard skills development of manpower considering the challenge of LDC upgradation.
The DCCI president Rizwan Rahman said the world is still struggling with the Covid-19, but having these challenges, Bangladesh’s economic progress is quite satisfactory during the first half of FY22, despite there are many challenges like inflation, lack of export diversification, policy support, skill shortages, poor logistic infrastructure, supply chain constraints.
Rizwan further 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 in view of the rise in fuel cost in the international market.
He suggested giving loan facilities to the importers of daily essentials and to cut duty on commodities imports to tackle the inflation.
Rizwan also suggested compensating the agro-businesses with lower transportation and fuel cost.
FBCCI president Md. Jashim Uddin said that prices of commodities in the international market increased. In that case, the cost of import and duty also increased. But the economy is yet to be recovered, he said.
Naser Ezaz Bijoy, president, FICCI (Foreign Investors’ Chamber Of Commerce & Industry) said the real estate sector is a large sector which has positive multifarious implications to other related sectors.
“If we can securitise the portfolio issuing bonds then we will be able reduce the rate of defaults,” he added.
Md. Saiful Islam, president, MCCI, said Bangladesh is a success story in the South Asia due to having its economic strength.
Zaidi Sattar, chairman, PRI (Policy Research Institute) said Bangladesh is a highly integrated market. Bangladesh’s economy is growing and the size of GDP is quite big. He stressed on the development of the domestic market.