Star Business Report

During the pandemic around 22 lakh people lost their jobs as the country’s economy, trade and investment went through a very challenging time, said Rizwan Rahman, president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), yesterday.

“The overall economy fell into a crisis due to a rapid spread of Covid-19 cases across the world while poverty rate increased to 30 per cent from 9 per cent,” he said.

Rahman was presenting a keynote at a webinar on “Biannual Economic State & Future Stance of Bangladesh Economy-Private Sector Perspective”, organised by the DCCI.

He said economic recovery was now the only target to be achieved.

Moreover, Bangladesh is going to become a developing nation leaving the club of the least developed countries (LDCs) in 2026 and has just five years in hand to make preparations, he said.

The country may lose $4 billion to $6 billion of export earnings following the graduation, he said.

In order to boost internal revenue generation, Rahman suggested adopting full automation in tax, VAT, customs assessment, returns and credit processes.

About the monetary policy, he said relaxed terms and conditions of repayment and collateral would help increase credit demand from the private sector.