Dollar crisis over, growth will be faster now

Bangladesh has been facing acute crisis of dollar for years due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestinian Hamas wars for which global economy is facing problem.

In this situation, the government had to restrict import and foreign tours of the officials and taking several measures to increase remittance and export earnings.

Due to dollar crisis, the process of approving new project slowed down. The government asked the authorities concerned  to speedily fund ongoing projects. But the situation is yet to improve.
Economists said that the government should facilitate increasing remittance and export earnings.

At the same time, it must restrict releasing  savings bonds and borrowing from banks. They called for following cost containment policy along with increasing revenue collection.

The government needs to take steps to solve the identified problems, reduce borrowing from abroad and taking aid.

It should tackle negative impact on industrialisation due to dollar crisis, inflation and control commodity prices, they said.

Economists advised Bangladesh Bank (BB) to be proactive to recover defaulted loans, so that banks can turn around and invest in different sectors.

In this context, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, the former advisor of the caretaker government, said that the challenges are not new, the government is also aware of them, so the government must take steps to solve these problems.

He said, export income should be increased, skilled human resources should be created. The government should reduce borrowing from  banks to facilitate the flow of credit to the private sector, he said.

He said that the central bank should be more active in recovering bad debts. He said that the steps taken by Bangladesh Bank to recover defaulted loans is far from enough.

Mirza Azizul Islam said, to solve dollar crisis,  export and remittance earnings should be increased.

He called for making tax collection easier. He said that projects that need dollar should be avoided. He said that the government should control inflation.

Economist Dr Kazi Khalikuzzaman said, "We have to approach solution step by step. The syndicate controlling the market must be brought under control."

He said decisions ought to be implemented. The law must be properly enforced, he said. He said that the central bank should stop new default loans.

Dr Khalikuzzaman called for diversification and creation of new manpower markets. He said, educated and trained manpower should be sent abroad to increase remittance earning.

He also said that the market economy should be allowed to function without any interference.

Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Majbaul Haque said that remittance income and export income increased in January. If this trend continues, dollar crisis will be over, he said.