Private sector just coping with Covid-19 instead of investing: MCCI

The private sector is trying to cope with the initial blow of Covid-19 instead of making further investments, said the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on Thursday.

The chamber also said that service and other informal sectors have resumed operations after the Covid-19 pandemic stagnancy, but they seem to be running at a much lower level than their original capacities.

In the quarterly review of Q2 of FY21, the MCCI said export-oriented garment, leather, domestic market-oriented steel, food-processing, and transport sectors are not running at full scale yet.

Bangladesh is now confronting some major challenges to steering its economy, including slow implementation of development projects, unemployment, low investment and sluggish growth of revenue, it said.

Employment cannot grow fast enough when private investment is stagnating.

Private investment in the country has been hovering at around 22-23 percent of the GDP for many years.

Domestic reforms as well as initiatives to liberalise trade policy regime for improving the investment climate are urgently needed to rejuvenate employment growth, MCCI added.