Corruption worsened business climate in 2022

Bangladesh's business environment deteriorated in 2022 thanks to corruption, according to a survey by the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

As much as 65 percent of the respondents complained of corruption, which was a major barrier for them to doing business, according to the study conducted as part of the World Economic Forum's annual survey titled "Executive Opinion Survey".

Inadequate infrastructure was the second most problematic factor in doing business, followed by inefficient government bureaucracy and limited access to finance among the 74 senior officials of different firms based in Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj and Gazipur.

"Corruption was the most problematic factor for doing business for the majority of enterprises, though the severity of its impact has been gradually shared with other structural and newly emergent problematic factors," said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of CPD, while presenting the findings of the survey at an event yesterday.

The majority of the respondents faced corruption in paying taxes (48 percent), receiving licences (54 percent) and securing the connections for utilities like gas, electricity and water (49 percent) as well as during export-import (75 percent).

However, the level of severity of problems is different for different categories of enterprises.

About 53 percent of small and micro enterprises have considered corruption as the most problematic factor; 71 percent of medium-sized firms and 59 percent of large firms found corruption a nuisance.

The challenges have been multiplied through new factors such as higher inflation, volatility in the foreign currency market and policy instability.

Due to corruption, the cost of production is more, said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of CPD.

Due to the latest hike in fuel price, the production cost will be higher.

"As a result, the general people have to suffer from this extra price. Corruption at various levels is harming the business environment and the economy."

The global economy is going through a recession, she said.

Many global organisations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have forecasted that this recession may persist until 2024, Khatun added.