Despite facing structural shifts, the rapidly growing private sector of Bangladesh has shown a positive outlook in cumulative business sentiment, according to the Business Confidence Index (BCI) report, launched on Tuesday.
The report also finds that country’s business confidence has been hit hard amid economic downturn and structural challenges.
LightCastle Partners, a leading business consulting firm, launched the fifth edition of its flagship publication, The LightCastle Business Confidence Index (BCI) 2022-23, at an event at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.
The BCI report meticulously evaluates the perspectives of 167 industry leaders representing 25+ sectors, including multinational corporations, local conglomerates, startups, and SMEs, providing a comprehensive snapshot of Bangladesh's dynamic business landscape.
The report delves into the private sector's journey amidst economic headwinds driven by geopolitical challenges, with a specific focus on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Furthermore, it presents the expectations of thought leaders for the economy, considering industry performance and growth six months into the future.
The report finds that despite facing structural shifts, Bangladesh’s private sector has shown a positive outlook in cumulative business sentiment – represented by an overall score of +6.69. Interestingly the local SMEs have fared better (+14.91) than local conglomerates and MNCs (+6.31).
While the 2023 BCI remains positive, it is relatively lower than the previous year’s (+28.69), indicating a subtle deceleration in overall business sentiment. Slower economic growth, rising costs, and reduced consumer demand have contributed to a lower but positive confidence index this fiscal year.
According to the BCI survey (done from March to June this year), the businesses have ranked top five problem areas as: rising cost of raw materials, lack of beneficial policy implementation, difficulty in accessing finance, weak demand, and inefficient human resources.
Industry leaders highlighted higher projections across sales, consumer demand, selling price, and employment; profitability, investments, and exports are expected to remain on the lower side.
As part of the launching event, a roundtable discussion was held with the participation of the industry leaders.
M Masrur Reaz, Chairman and CEO of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, moderated the discussion.
M Masrur Reaz said, “What an index can do is help give a structured snapshot and quantify a situation, making it more comprehensible for industry leaders and policy makers. It also helps businesses, foreign investors, in making their decision, who look at documents like Doing Business Index, which was discontinued.”
Ivdad Ahmed Khan Mojlish, Managing Director, LightCastle Partners, welcomed the participants, while Zahedul Amin, Director, LightCastle Partners, kicked off the event by presenting the key findings of the report.
Bijon Islam, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LightCastle Partners, was also present at the event.