FROM PAGE B1

The DCCI said reducing pressure on the banking system is essential to support private sector-led growth.

Professor Akhand Mohammad Akhtar Hossain, chief economist of Bangladesh Bank, said government borrowing must be reduced and bank borrowing should be controlled to ease pressure on private sector credit.

He also warned that rising external borrowing could increase risk and weaken investor confidence.

Referring to weak growth of around 3 percent, he said job creation remains insufficient, and neither fiscal nor monetary stimulus alone can solve the problem without long-term growth momentum.

He cautioned against expansionary policies, saying a “populist budget is not advisable”. Instead, he called for conservative fiscal measures and tight monetary policy, even if they limit short-term demand.

Former DCCI president Rizwan Rahman said businesses are facing serious difficulties due to bureaucratic hurdles and what he described as an aggressive approach by the NBR.

He said the failure to expand the tax net is increasing pressure on existing taxpayers as a short-term measure.

He called for grassroots investment incentives, warned against printing money to control inflation, and urged higher allocations for health and education.

Another former DCCI president, Hossain Khaled, called for full automation of the tax system, including banking transactions. He said most economic activity still takes place outside formal channels, limiting revenue collection.