The government has kept borrowing from the Bangladesh Bank as commercial banks can’t come up with much-needed funds owing to the liquidity crunch.
Abdul Wahab, a security guard at an ATM booth of a private bank in the capital, works 16 hours a day.
While the government is distracted by elections, the financial economy will suffer
The government has trimmed its growth forecast for this fiscal year by a whole percentage point to 6.5 percent as the energy shortage and inflation dampened economic activities.
The recent policy changes have been so enormous that they have already made the old monetary policy largely defunct.
In the name of taming inflation, central banks have set themselves on a path to cause a recession.
Dealing with these two major challenges is essential for macroeconomic stability
The burden of imported inflation and supply-side implications of reduced imports will have adverse implications for economic growth and welfare, particularly of marginalised people.
Both global and local macro-challenges can have serious implications for the people of Bangladesh
Govt must do more to stop consumers’ purchasing power erosion
Government must adapt to new reality and go for long-term measures
Some say that living in Dhaka is not easy and for those who have lived here for years, nothing is easy. In fact, living in this city makes it easier to tolerate any other inconvenience with a hair-flip. Someone spat inches away from your feet? Tolerate. It landed on you? Wipe and move on. The world might have a fancy word like noise pollution for needlessly honking cars but we know it for what it really is — soothing white noise that one could even fall asleep to. Which happens often, during the long respites the city graciously bestows on us to and from work every day without fail. We lovingly call them traffic jams.
Government must step up efforts to bring down food prices
Savers are now facing losses on their deposits with banks due to surging inflation, with many solely dependent on interest earnings finding themselves in a tight corner.
People in rural areas were hit harder by food and non-food inflation than those in urban areas over the last two months, with the overall inflation surging to a 10-year high of 9.52 percent in August.
High inflation and low export and remittance earnings are a major cause for concern at the moment.
Bangladesh’s private sector credit growth surged to 14.07 per cent in August, almost touching the central bank’s target for the entire fiscal year, an ominous sign for the economy since it may stoke inflationary pressures.
Those who artificially raised prices did the country a great disservice
Specific policy incentives are needed to stimulate the economy and revive the labour market.
