Economy making a comeback: MCCI

Bangladesh's economy is now rebounding from the pandemic-induced slowdown thanks to the government's time-befitting steps alongside the implementation of stimulus packages, said the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) yesterday.

In its review of the "Economic Situation in Bangladesh" for the October-December period of 2021, the chamber said economic conditions seem to have been gradually improving after the easing of restrictions in late May 2020.

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However, challenges are emerging for a recent price rise of essential commodities, decreasing remittance, chances of a new wave of infections and slow vaccine rollouts, it said.

The MCCI said the growth of the agricultural sector reduced to 3.45 per cent in the fiscal year 2020-21 from 4.59 per cent in the previous year.

This was in spite of favourable natural factors and government support in terms of timely availability of inputs and finance, it said.

The sector employed about 39 per cent of the workforce and accounted for about 13.47 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020-21.

The MCCI said data on the performance of the industrial sector for the second quarter was yet to be available.

However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, though it is now on the wane, the sector registered a growth of 6.12 per cent in 2020-21, nearly double the 3.25 per cent of 2019-20.

The share of the industrial sector in GDP increased slightly to 34.99 per cent in 2020-21 from 34.78 per cent in 2019-20.

Within manufacturing, sub-sectors of large and medium-scale industries performed comparatively better than what they did in the previous fiscal, growing at 6.56 per cent in 2020-21, compared to 1.39 per cent a year ago.

The small-scale manufacturing industries grew at a very low rate of 1.73 per cent in the last fiscal year against 3.96 per cent in 2019-20.

Overall, the share of the manufacturing sector in the GDP increased marginally.

The MCCI said the general point-to-point inflation increased in November and December of 2021 mainly due to increased prices of both food and non-food items.

Export receipts soared in the first half of 2020-21 riding on garment shipments.

A gradual decline in Covid-19 infections and subsequent relaxation of restrictions has encouraged businesses to revive imports.

Besides, customs-based imports in December of 2021-22 alone increased by 56.56 per cent to $8.44 billion as compared to $5.39 billion of the same month of the previous fiscal year, said the MCCI.