Recent worldwide events have seen the global economy take a major hit; from the Covid-19 pandemic from which we are only coming out of to the Russia-Ukraine war which shows little sign of stopping, there have been major disruptions to global trade.
On that note, the ADB’s warning that rising inflation will hurt import-oriented countries this year is something that we need to give due attention to.
Bangladesh too has been bearing the brunt of costlier imports since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Essentials such as cooking oil and fuel have become so expensive that it has become impossible for even large portions of the middle class to afford it, while leading to even bigger issues such as the days of load shedding being heralded again.
While imports will always remain important, Bangladesh must explore fulfilling its capacity to meet its demands in the most efficient manner possible. Exploring more diverse procurement and sourcing networks and streamlining our costs to import products will thus go a long way to achieving this.
Having a strategic mix of both local production and import to support all our needs is what we must strive for. Overreliance on imports can never be good for a nation in the long run, least of all a developing one such as ours that must continue to build more industries to sustain itself.
As Bangladesh becomes bigger, our needs will become bigger as well. To that end, we must leave no stone unturned in having a functional economy, enacting the appropriate policies for achieving the rational balance of local and foreign goods.