ICC Bangladesh strongly endorse the recent recommendation by the Finance Ministry to avoid hard loans and discourage the import of luxury goods as this may reduce pressure on our declining foreign exchange reserves.
Also endorse recent austerity and regulatory measures taken by Govt. & Bangladesh Bank aimed at curbing non-essential imports, suspending the implementation of projects with high import components, we believe this will send a positive signal to the market and the economy as well as curbing inflation, said ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman while presenting ICCB Executive Board Report at it’s 27th Annual Council held in Dhaka on Saturday.
ICCB also support the demand of the businesses not to increase the power and gas rates, fuels prices as well reduce the corporate rate taxes during the upcoming budget as these will be helpful in containing the inflation, said ICCB President.
The report mentioned that over the last two years, the pandemic has played a major role in shaping the global economy. Many sectors have found themselves in difficulty and are still struggling and the countries dependent on those sectors are now quietly trying to get back up again. Despite the strong economic recovery in 2021, the financial difficulties are not over and may still cause economic slowdown. The global economy is poised to be sent on yet another unpredictable course by Russia-Ukraine war. This war is a major humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people and a severe economic shock of uncertain duration and magnitude.
The Executive Board Report observed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine poses the most severe risk to developing Asia’s economic outlook. The war is already affecting economies in the region through sharp increases in prices for commodities such as oil and has heightened instability in global financial markets. COVID-19 continues to impact many parts of developing Asia, with some economies experiencing new surges in cases. Bangladesh’s journey of 50 years since its independence in 1971 has been tremendous and to many it is a ‘land of impossible attainment’, ICCB President said.
