Rise of religious extremism to hit economy adversely

Newly elected President of the FBCCI Mir Nasir Hossain referring to the August 17 nationwide serial bombings, carried out by Islamic extremists, said, "This would cast a negative impact on the economy."

He said if such incident continues and the culprits remain out of justice, the country's image would be at stake and it would affect the economy adversely.

Mir Nasir's comments came when the newly elected FBCCI leaders made a courtesy call on Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury at his secretariat office in the city.

Barkatullah Bhulu, adviser to the ministry and Alamgir Faruk Siddique, commerce secretary, were also present at the meeting.

Mir Nasir also referred to rising inflation, price hike of essential commodities and erosion of purchasing capacity, calling on the government to address the problems.

The FBCCI leaders admitted that the oil price hike in the international market put pressure on the macroeconomic balance, but said the government should carry on subsidising oil for smooth operation of industrial and business activities.

They also said the increase in exchange rate of US dollar against Taka raised the prices of imported goods leading to rise in inflation rate. All these had a negative impact on the overall economy, they added.

The FBCCI leaders welcomed the government steps, such as open market sale (OMS) of rice and called for expansion of such programmes to prevent the price spiral of the commodities.

However, they underplayed the role of a section of businessmen in raising the prices of essentials, but advised the government to set up a monitoring cell.

"The government can set up a monitoring cell to observe price situation. The cell can quarterly review the price and take necessary steps," the FBCCI president said.

The FBCCI leaders also emphasised strong negotiating capacity to protect the national interest in trade talks at regional and global levels.

They also demanded restriction on importing some of the goods to protect the local industries.

"High registration charges and other barriers can be imposed on the entry of other countries' commodities to save our local industries," SM Shafiuzzaman, president of the Aushad Shilpa Samity, said at the meeting.

FBCCI Director Abdur Rouf Chowdhury said: "We have informed the ministry of our concerns about the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. However, the ministry is yet to talk with us on its preparation for the meeting."

"Acceleration of public-private partnership is needed in trade talks like South Asian Free Trade Agreement (Safta) to safeguard the interest of the nation," the FBCCI President said.

The FBCCI leaders urged the government to increase resources for capacity building of the tariff commission officials for strong negotiation capacity.

Altaf Hossain assured the leaders of protecting the national interest in WTO talks through pressing issues, such as market access and movement of natural persons under Mode-4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (Gats).

He also said the demand of the business leaders, including separate land for a new FBCCI building and land for setting up laboratory for pharmaceuticals will be met.

Admitting the price spiral, Commerce Ministry Adviser Barkatullah Bhulu said the prices would be brought down to a reasonable level within the next three months.