With the ongoing political impasse crippling the economy, businesses in Bangladesh are taking a sustained beating, without seeing hope for an immediate recovery. The news of unpaid wages and default loan repayments are on rise every day. However, it would be wise not to take the condition of Dhaka into context. Stores may have opened and traffic jams may be resurfacing, but hardly any business is being done. At least it is better than staying at home and doing nothing. Things are even bleaker outside of Dhaka, where the maximum impact can be observed. Ports have endless bulks of goods not being able to be cleared and sent to different parts of the country, as fears of petrol bombs being hurled is the recent scare tactic. Idle goods are costing businessmen plenty of money, which is adding to the cost of goods and cost of doing business, something Bangladesh already lags in.
So what is the latest situation on the big manufacturing industries? In our cover story of this issue, we look at the upcoming challenge that our Readymade Garments (RMG) industry is facing. The next challenge of the leading export sector in Bangladesh business is not just to tackle the effects of the current instability, but also the fear of losing to neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Vietnam and others. With the European Union granting GSP status to Pakistan recently, it does put Bangladesh in a rather precarious position. But as the RMG owners are working steadfast on finding new destinations, Bangladesh RMG remains on a slow track to sustainable economic development.
According to Hossain Khaled, president at Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, there is a daily revenue loss of Tk. 2000 crore. That is a significant amount (almost 2% of our GDP) and it will be very hard to salvage whatever image and credibility that will be left after the impasse is over. He pointed out the lack of government support to help businesses, the loss of credibility and image in front of domestic and foreign investors, and more reasons which are detrimental to the development of more businesses and industries in Bangladesh today. He made appeal to all the political institutions to keep the economy out of all political activities.
But all said and done, Bangladesh has witnessed similar situation in the past, only the degree and extent of damages done had varied. Businesses and industries, thanks to the resilient spirit of the Bangladeshi people, have always enabled us to bounce back and gear for future. We hope that this impasse ceases to exist as soon as possible, and that the economy would be on its development track again.
