Global crisis fallout depends on longevity of turmoil

Bangladesh may not face any significant impact of the current global recession if the crisis does not continue for a long period, said Kazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP).
“As the local banking system is not directly linked with the global banking system, the current global economic fallout will not unleash any serious impact on Bangladesh economy,” he told a press briefing in Dhaka yesterday.
He feared if the recession continues for a longer period with more severity, Bangladesh will definitely witness a negative trend in export earnings, remittance flows and the amount of foreign aid received.
But he speculated that Bangladesh would directly gain in terms of saving foreign currency, as the fuel price is going down globally.
Kholiquzzaman called on the government to ensure a check on bank and financial institutions so that these would not face similar consequence in future.
“The government should take decisions independently by avoiding International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank (WB) suggestions. IMF and WB suggest the government privatise entire government institutions when the developed nation governments are overtaking their banks and financial institutions,” he said.
About the oil and gas sector, Kholiquzzaman said the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd should take lead in managing the country's mineral resources.
He said both the public and private sectors should monitor the global economic situation regularly in order to take timely and necessary measures.