The government’s cutting down vehicular movement to Dhaka ahead of the opposition’s “March for Democracy” has aggravated further the sorry state of the economy that has already been reeling from the effects of repeated hartals and blockades.
The people of the country had a small four-day window of relief thanks to the pause; but the government move to impose an “unofficial blockade” on the highway brought the things back to square.
“The economy has already been going through a big dilemma for last three months because of prolonged political programmes. Now the government enforced its own blockade, barring transportation to Dhaka and disrupting supply chain,” said a senior official of the Finance Division of the finance ministry.
“The strikes and blockades have crippled the economy, affecting millions of poor farmers and the urban middle class. The country is the world’s eighth most populous country and one of the poorest in Asia,” the official added.
An official of the Budget Division said: “The law enforcing agencies have literally imposed a blockade on the highways, halting buses, trucks, trains and marine vessels from entering the capital.”
Media reports suggest that bus owners have started reducing the number of Dhaka-bound vehicles for last couple of days. As of yesterday, virtually no bus, train or launch either left the city or arrived at the terminals.
Police said the trips had been cancelled for security reasons.
Commerce ministry sources said the government move had badly disrupted the shipments of export-oriented goods, which had already been hit hard by the ongoing opposition programmes.
Transportation of fertiliser and diesel, essential for the ongoing Boro paddy cultivation, has also been disrupted, said sources in the agriculture ministry.
Last week, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told Canadian High Commissioner Heather Cruden that things would have been much worse if Bangladesh was a sophisticated economy like the UK. He cited the full-blown strike and its aftereffects in London in the 1970s.
According to trade bodies such as the FBCCI, Dhaka chamber and the international chamber, the economy has suffered a total loss of over Tk1 lakh crore from January to December because of the incessant political turmoil. They also estimated that the daily damage is between Tk1,540cr and Tk1,600cr.
According to the FBCCI, the countries apex trade body, transportation, readymade garments and the SME sectors were hit the hardest of all by the political unrest.
Abdus Salam Murshedi, president of Bangladesh Exporters’ Association, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will stop the shipment of export goods for Saturday and Sunday because of the political event that the opposition has announced and the action the government has taken.”
He said some foreign buyers recently told a meeting in Hong Kong that they would drop some of their orders for security reasons.
Investment has also dropped drastically with bank loan defaults piling up to Tk55,000cr. Moreover, 21 commercial banks and 31 non-banking financial institutions have also incurred losses during the January-December period.
According to the National Board of Revenue, for the July-November period, collection stood at Tk40,956cr which was Tk5,970cr less than target.
There are major concerns about agriculture and food security as well, with a staggering 11.95 lakh tonnes of fertiliser stuck at the Chittagong port in the middle of the Boro paddy cultivation season.
A rice dealer from the northern district of Naogaon said: “We fear chaos on Saturday and Sunday centring the ‘March for Democracy.’ So, rice-laden trucks may not ply through the highways.”
He said the supply of fertiliser had been badly disrupted over the last three months. Now the government’s move to halt Dhaka-bound traffic had only added to the misery.
Rustom Ali, general secretary of the Covered Van and Truck Owners’ Association, said: “The operation of the Dowlatdia ferry terminal was stopped on Saturday. We do not know the reason, but a long queue of goods-laden trucks has been formed on either sides of the terminal. We do not know how long they will have to wait.”
He also feared that things will remain the same today [Sunday] as well.