# Financial loss of around Tk 18,400 cr in six days
# Tk 1200 cr loss in steel sector
# Tk 5400 cr loss in transport services
# Tk 600 cr loss in ceramic sector
Nationwide curfew, three consecutive days of public holidays, shutdown of internet- all these three have created a big blow to the country's economy.
Among the thousands of sectors, only export-oriented garments, air transport, steel, ceramics, cement and e-commerce sector have suffered a financial loss of around Tk 18,400 crore in the last six days, said those concerned. During this period, the revenue loss of the government is about Tk 6000 crore.
The violence started last Thursday around the quota reform movement. In this situation, the internet service was stopped that night. All economic activities dependent on the Internet are stopped. The government imposed a nationwide curfew from last Friday night when the violent situation was about to get out of control.
Army was deployed. Along with that, the country fell under the grip of general holidays for three consecutive days. All kinds of factories and vehicle movement were stopped. The financial consequences of this are now becoming apparent.
The main sector of Bangladesh's export income, the garment industry is now almost closed. Factories are closed. Cargo containers are lying at the port. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), an association of garment industry owners, has already said that they are suffering an average loss of Tk 1,600 crore per day. In the last six days, the loss of this sector is about Tk 9600 crores.
Now a large part of people's life is dependent on e-commerce. E-commerce is closed due to lack of internet. The sector stakeholders said that in the last six days, the amount of loss in this sector is around Tk 420 crore. As product delivery activities are not going on due to lack of internet, freelancing is also almost stopped. There are about 650,000 freelancers in the country. Their work is stopped. They are losing at least 13-14 million dollars a day. And the loss of BPO sector is more. It is known that at least three big BPO companies will shift their headquarters from Bangladesh. Some BPO companies are moving their offices from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and India. If it continues, it is unlikely to return. Financial loss can be calculated but image-crisis cannot be calculated.
The steel sector has also suffered due to the stalemate. The entrepreneurs of this sector said that the daily loss of the steel sector is about Tk 200 crore. As a result, the loss of this sector in the last six days is about 1 thousand 200 crores. Production at the factory has stopped. Product sales and delivery are also completely closed.
Due to the lack of internet services, cargo and passenger transport services are also being disrupted. Sector stakeholders said that the sector is losing at least Tk 800 crores per day due to the lack of cargo transportation in cargo planes. About 4 thousand travel agencies of the country are closed for the same reason. Due to which the booking of air tickets is disrupted, even the desired tickets are not being sold. The loss in the passenger ticket sector is about Tk 100 crores per day. As a result, if the daily loss in this sector is Tk 900 crore, the loss in six days is at least Tk 5,400 crore.
The ceramic sector is also very promising now. However, in the current situation, the sector has suffered losses. The sector stakeholders said that in the last six days, the ceramic sector has suffered a loss of around Tk 1,200 crore. Cement is also a major sector of the economy. The entrepreneurs of this sector said that the sector has lost at least Tk 100 crores per day. As a result, the loss of this sector in six days is about Tk 600 crore.
Meanwhile, according to Chittagong port sources, all kinds of goods handling has been almost stopped for six days. Due to lack of internet-service, banking transactions are also not taking place. Although efforts have been made to manually dispose of perishable goods on a limited scale since yesterday, it has not yielded much benefit. Because banking transactions are closed. Even though the customs authority has started collecting customs from its own server, revenue related activities are not being carried out. It will be possible when the banking services are introduced. Only 65 TUS containers were sent to the yard from the port yesterday. However, 1 thousand 110 containers went from the port to the private depot. 5 to 6 thousand containers are handled daily at Chittagong Port during normal times.
Due to deadlock in business and internet services, the revenue of the government is almost stopped. According to the sources of National Board of Revenue (NBR), customs, VAT and income tax should generate at least 1000 crores of revenue on an average day. That's not happening. Customs ports are managed through the Internet on Esaicuda World software. If there is no internet, the software cannot run. So there is no tolling.
People's expenditure in service sector has decreased, so VAT is not being collected. As a result, revenue is not generated. Income tax is not being collected as the tax office and banking services are closed.
A senior officer of NBR said on condition of anonymity, we kept the offices under NBR open from yesterday on a limited basis from 11 am to 3 pm. In a few days the revenue did not come properly. However, we hope that this loss can be overcome if the office is opened in full swing.
Meanwhile, the country's capital market is also facing losses. Taking into account the last week, the average daily transaction on DSE is Tk 555 crore 10 lakh. Due to the closure of the activities, this amount of transactions did not happen. From this, the government, investors, brokerage houses, merchant banks and all the related people, including various taxes, fees and service charges, have not received that income.
BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel said that the loss of the garment sector has already been told by our president. In fact, the entire loss is difficult to bear. The most important thing is that such an unwanted incident is not desirable in any way.
Chairman of Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association Syed Mohammad Arif said that Chittagong Custom House is trying to clear the goods by manual customs clearance, but due to the closure of other banks, shipping offices and transport along with customs, the goods cannot be cleared even though the port customs is open.
ZH
