Bangladesh mature enough to quell economic woes: DCCI president

Bangladesh has the ability to promptly overcome the existing economic challenges, as it has done earlier," the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Ashraf Ahmed said on Saturday. 

"Our economy is passing through a few challenges like inflation, NPL, forex reserve, financial market volatility, balance of payment, and depreciation of taka and these are not new to us. Bangladesh has the experience of overcoming such challenges," said Ashraf Ahmed at a conference organised by the DCCI.

At the same time, he also called for an early solution to the power and energy crisis, which he said is causing industries to shut down apart from having a negative impact on the economy. 

He also put emphasis on improvement of data transparency of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and other sources of official data. . 

Earlier, he made a powerpoint presentation on the contemporary economic overview and shared the view of the chamber with the media. 

Regarding economic challenges, he said both the private sector, the growth engine of the economy, and the public sector are trying to face the challenges of the economy.  

However, the private sector is required to play a pivotal role in this year to bring the economy back to the trend of growth stability, he added.

He said technology transfer and capacity building of cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) through digital engagement is needed for creating future smart Bangladesh. 

He also suggested expanding access to finance for CMSMEs and industrial startups through dedicated credit lines, loan guarantees and venture capital initiatives for the development of import substitute industries. 

The DCCI president stressed export diversification, export factoring, inter-bank foreign currency exchange and more incentivising the remittance inflow to increase forex reserve.

He also suggested promoting the Alternative Trade Board (ATB) for trading infrastructure and participation in the capital market. 

"Implementation of the new monetary policy is expected to stabilise the macroeconomic scenario. This should help relieve inflationary pressure, stabilize reserves and improve balance of payment imbalances," he added.

The DCCI president said, "We need to keep pushing for inclusive growth, diversify the export base and focus on policies that help growth."

He also urged for synchronization of the accounting and reporting process with the tax code. 

He said a long-term and time-bound sector-specific national investment roadmap for major industries like Agriculture, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics, Light-engineering, IT & ITES and RMG industry is needed to boost private investment.