Falling export, FDI, rising inflation, unemployment threaten growth 
FDI inflows fell by 37 per cent in the first two months, compared to the same period of the past fiscal Plummeting export growth, stagnating investment, falling foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, surging unemployment with no increase in real sector production and rising inflation are posing a threat to the short- and medium-term growth prospects of the economy,(FE Report ) according to Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI), one of the country's leading trade promotion organisations. In its latest review of economic situation covering the first quarter or Q1 (July-September) of the current fiscal, the MCCI felt that the government and policy-makers should promptly adopt appropriate policies to tackle these problems before they go out of control. "The advent of FY10 was marked with some clear signs of global economic recovery from the 2008 economic crisis. International financial markets were stabilising and the sharp economic contraction in the major developed economies was halted, and for some, even reversed. The Bangladesh economy, however, witnessed some unwelcome developments in the very first quarter of the fiscal," the MCCI noted. The chamber said although the country had successfully weathered the first onslaught of the global economic recession in the past fiscal when its exports experienced a double-digit growth, export growth plummeted sharply in the in the quarter under review. The MCCI noted in its review: "Investment has remained stagnant and, in fact declined. Public development expenditure in the quarter remained below the target set in the Annual Development Programme (ADP)." "FDI inflows fell by 37 per cent in the first two months, compared to the same period of the past fiscal. With no increase in real sector production, unemployment has surged. The inflation rate has started to rise again. There is a large volume of excess liquidity in the banking system, caused by low demand for private sector credit. Significant inflationary pressure in the coming months cannot be ruled out unless this huge liquidity overhang is utilised in productive economic activities," it pointed out. "These problems are serious enough to threaten the short- and medium-term growth prospects of the economy, and we urge upon the government and policy-makers to promptly adopt appropriate policies to tackle these problems before they go out of control," the MCCI said. http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=85915 |
__._,_.___
