BD Doesn’t Need to Borrow from IMF if Dignity is Sacrificed: FBCCI President

Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Md. Jasim Uddin has said, Bangladesh does not need to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if the country’s dignity is sacrificed.

He also opposed hiking the current lending interest rate.

Jasim said this while speaking at ‘ERF’s Dialogue’ as the chief guest, organized by Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF), at its auditorium in Dhaka on Saturday.

“Bangladesh is not in such a dire situation that loan must be taken under any condition from IMF. Hiking lending interest rate will drive up production costs as well as become a burden for consumers,” he added.

Jasim said businesses do not believe that all problems will be solved through hiking interest rate. He, however, favoured increasing the capacity of banks.

“When the interest rates were reduced, a lot of investors invest here… research firms have different agenda for raising lending rates… whether the industry will survive the impact is what needs to be considered,” he said.

In response to a question about money laundering during the election year, he said, since Bangladesh Bank says that they have found proof of up to 200 percent excess prices under the guise of imports, they should bring those involved under the law. If not, you need to stop making tall claims just for popularity’s sake, he said.

He said those who launder money through manipulating invoices should be caught, and that FBCCI wants the government to take disciplinary action in this regard.

In response to a question on the Prime Minister's statement regarding a possible impending famine, Jasim said if there is a famine, it will impact the whole world, not just Bangladesh.

“We need to maintain austerity. Apart from this, we must work on the agriculture sector.” He added.

He also emphasized on uninterrupted power and energy supply to industries and favoured cutting household gas supply for the greater interest of the nation._UNB