Rejaul Karim Byron and Md Fazlur Rahman

The year 2020 began with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the horizon. The novel coronavirus was spreading in Europe, the destination of over 60 percent exports from Bangladesh, after wreaking havoc in China, its largest trading partner.

Bangladesh felt the heat of a looming global crisis though the virus had not yet made its way into the country.

The bad news came a couple of months later. On March 8, the authorities confirmed the maiden case of Covid infection in the country. A week later, the first death from the virus was reported.

Soon, the country’s economy, one of the shining stars in Asia, came almost to a halt as the government imposed countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.

The main index of the stock market dropped by 15 percent in less than 10 days in the second half of March.

During the nationwide lockdown, millions lost jobs, poverty rate doubled and many businesses folded up. Income of the vast majority of the population shrank.

Exports hit rock bottom as the importing countries themselves were finding it difficult to keep their economies afloat. The country was staring at an unprecedented three-pronged crisis: health, economic and food.