Hartals bleed the
economy

Power and energy crisis has already taken a toll on the
industries and now production is sharply decreasing due to hartals.
The government's planned activities, for example, infrastructure development,
are also getting delayed, affecting the economy and development of the country
to a great extent.

Although we are always interested to know the damage on a
broader scale on the economy, we, however, pay little attention to state of the
low income groups. Drivers, helpers, auto-rickshaw drivers, rickshaw pullers,
day labourers and street vendors are all feeling the
pinch of shutdowns. According to a sector-wise study by Dhaka Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, incomes of these groups are halved during hartal days. They have little or no alternative sources of
incomes. Hawkers and street vendors see their incomes go down by almost 50-60
per centon hartal days.
Again, a farmer, who has had a very good harvest of vegetables but could not
bring his product to the market due to unavailability of transports during a series
of hartals, is incurring a huge financial loss of his
own. If the situation continues, the economy will face contraction.

Last but not the least, the banking sector has been
playing a pivotal role in the country's development but the activities of the
banks and non-bank financial institutions have been severely affected by hartals. Since new investment has got stuck, financial
institutions' scope has also been squeezed. Furthermore, some factory owners
are also finding it difficult to repay their loans, increasing the NPLs
(non-performing loans).

The economic growth and development of the country over
last one decade or so seem to be a puzzle even to the economists of the world,
given that the country has seen a noticeable growth during global recession.
However, the way our economy suffers today due to sustained political crisis,
we might observe the overall impact in the coming days in a more aggravated
way.

We all know that the key to the improvement of the
present situation lies in the hands of the two main parties but we do not know
when they will use that and the things will change for the better. To make that
happen, the ruling party and the opposition need to sit for a dialogue to
resolve the prolonged political gridlock. Otherwise, we might have to pay the
price dearly in the coming days. Let's hope for the best!

[email-masked]

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMDVfMTRfMTNfMV82XzE2OTMxNw==