The country’s leading local business chamber Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) stressed that the countries’ economic situation hurdles have directly reflected the six economic indicators due to the prevailing global and internal adversities.
The six ‘weaker parameters’ are foreign exchange reserves, import volume, domestic debt, export receipts, food stock, and CPI inflation.
In its review titled Economic Situation in Bangladesh for October-December quarter of 2023 (Q2 of FY ’24), MCCI noted this and offered recommendations for actions to stabilise foreign exchange reserves, tame inflation, boost revenue earnings, guarantee a proper supply of gas and electricity, and improve the state of the food supply.
The MCCI said that imports and exports are two significant economic drivers and that both have performed better in the current environment.
In February of the current financial year (FY ’24), Bangladeshi manufacturers exported goods valued at US $ 5.19 billion, representing a 12.04 per cent year-over-year (YoY) gain, according to data released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) on March 4. In the same time the previous year, export revenue brought in US $ 4.63 billion for the nation.
After experiencing a decline for a few months, the exports continued on an upward trajectory.
MCCI also highlighted adversities including a slowdown in external demand, a weak remittance inflow, a lack of revenue collection, a slowdown in public expenditure, an increase in inflation, the depreciation of the Taka, a decrease in foreign exchange reserves, a situation of unemployment, and low investment in recent months.
According to a projection, export revenue this month (March) could total US $ 5.89 billion, while import revenue is predicted to total US $ 4.46 billion.
The MCCI predicts that point-to-point inflation will slightly decline this year, to 9.85 per cent in February and 9.75 per cent in March.
