Eid economy to be 29pc bigger

The economy of Eid-ul-Azha is likely to add about Tk 40,000 crore to the economy, up 29 percent year-on-year, according to the Department of Livestock Services and analysts.

The average price of a cow is estimated at Tk 52,500 and a goat Tk 8,500. Based on the estimate, about Tk 28,687 crore will come from cattle sales only, Hiresh Ranjan Bhowmik, director general of the department of livestock services, told The Daily Star.

“This is an estimate and it will take a couple of weeks after the Eid-ul-Azha to get the final number,” Bhowmik said.

Other than the livestock sector, spice traders and other service sectors, including transport, are greatly benefitted by the festival, said Zahid Hussain, a senior economist.

Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute, estimates the size of the Eid-ul-Azha economy will be more than Tk 45,000 crore this year because of the stable economy.

Of the sum, about Tk 30,000 crore was generated by cattle trade and the remaining Tk 15,000 crore through sales of commodities, refrigerators, freezers, clothing, furniture, transportation and tourism.

Abdul Majid, a former chairman of the National Board of Revenue, said the Eid-ul-Azha economy this year will be bigger than the last one due to the government’s banning of cattle imports.

“The money will go to the rural areas and that will have a significant impact on the rural economy,” he added.

The festival also provides the poor much-needed nutrition and creates some temporary jobs for them. It also brings bonanza for bus and launch operators and commodity traders.Above all, it provides the supply of half of the annual requirement for rawhide for the leather and leather goods industry.