Bangladesh is not going to be Sri Lanka." Explain in terms of the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Created: 1 year ago | Updated: 8 months ago

The island nation of Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic recession in its history. The country's economy has collapsed. All civic facilities have been nearly closed. The country is also facing many difficult problems including political and administrative crisis. 

According to the international media reports and economic analysts, this situation has created in Sri Lanka due to the collapse in the tourism sector, the country's main source of income, for last two years. As a result, the country is suffering a major blow. On the other hand, the country took huge foreign loans to implement various projects with a view to attracting tourists. Huge foreign loan installments have created an additional pressure. Moreover, industrial production has collapsed, export and remittance earnings have reached the bottom. Due to reduction of taxes and VAT and reduction of chemical use in agriculture, the country is facing a production deficit and some other problems. 

Through the social media, opposition leaders are also raising a doubt whether Bangladesh will be like Sri Lanka. On April 2, at a pre-budget discussion organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF), some people said: "If the investment in mega projects does not return, Bangladesh will also become Sri Lanka". Indian media also published several reports comparing Bangladesh with Sri Lanka. 

However, economists said fear about Bangladesh is just like a rumor. They asked people not to listen to the rumor. They said the economies of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are different. Remittance earnings are increasing in Bangladesh, and it has a record amount of reserves. Moreover, export of 'made in Bangladesh products' to different countries of the world is increasing day by day. The global economy faced the real hardship during Covid-19 pandemic. But Bangladesh economy showed a positive trend and kept its pace on right track despite the hard times. All the indicators of the Bangladesh economy are in a positive trend. So, Bangladesh will not face such problems which are being faced by Sri Lanka. Economists said this while talking to the correspondent. 

The economic nature of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka: Bangladesh is not at risk of defaulting on foreign loan repayments because of its cautious management of external debt which has a much higher portion of soft loan with longer maturity periods than that in Sri Lanka. The size of Bangladesh economy and volume of exports are bigger than those of Sri Lanka and Pakistan put together, while foreign currency reserves are more than double the amounts held by these two South Asian countries. There is no shortage of food production in Bangladesh. The country's staple food is not dependent on imports. The amount of remittances and export income of Bangladesh is increasing day by day. The country has a foreign exchange reserve of $44.40 billion. In contrast, Sri Lanka has a reserve of less than $2 billion. Moreover, the per capita debt of Bangladesh is $292.11 while of Sri Lanka $1,650. About the rumors or fears that are being spread over Bangladesh after the crisis emerges in Sri Lanka's economy, noted economist AB Mirza Azizul Islam told media that such fears are baseless as Bangladesh is on the right track. There is no reason for Bangladesh to be like Sri Lanka. These are certainly silly conversations, unreasonable and unrealistic. 

Sri Lanka has descended into its worst financial crisis since independence for fast-depleting foreign currency reserves, caused by the dragging pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. 

As a result, the country can't afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices. And it has already said it would temporarily default on its foreign debts. Sri Lanka as a special case where it has a lot of foreign debts that it can't service. It is a case where the country had to use central bank reserves to service the debts and buy essential imports. As a result, the reserves are decreasing. It is a difficult balance of payment crisis. This is because the foreign debts of Bangladesh account for only 17 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, which is low in international comparison. And most of the external debts are with bilateral or multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and are concessional or carry low-interest rates. Although there has been some increase in the debt for Bangladesh, this is still at a very low level. Foreign currency reserves in Bangladesh can cover more than six months of imports, which is very solid. 

But every country can learn from Sri Lanka's experience. Every country has to be careful in spending a lot more than they earn. We have to be careful how to use your foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh should be careful about the monetary use of the reserves to finance domestic investments and to support the exchange rate.

8 months ago

English

Please, contribute to add content.
Content

Related Question

View More

Press freedom takes influential place in a country. It represent citizen’s freedom of speech. Media can expose news without obstructer or any controls by government and organizations. There should not be control over the press. As press freedom is necessary for the preventability of corruption, development of economy and maintenance of democracy. One of the advantages of press freedom is it can help to control on the level of corruption. A country which has higher press freedom tends to lower corruption in government or some private’s agents (Brunetti & Weder, 2003). Sometimes countries might think press free threats the stable of political and it might easy be controlled by different organizations. However, again the most persuasive idea come.

1 year ago

“Health for all” implies the removal of the obstacles to health that is to say, the elimination of malnutrition, ignorance, contaminated drinking-water, and unhygienic housing quite as much as it does the solution of purely medical problems such as a lack of doctors, hospital beds, drugs and vaccines. Health for All in Bangladesh contains the most comprehensive information available about primary health care services in Bangladesh, including activities in maternal and child health care, Family planning, reproductive health care, nutrition, quality of care, and health care financing.

7 months ago

Cluster Villages

 

A majority of the Bangladesh population are farmers who are settled in villages. They toil to make both ends meet and produce crops for the entire nation. Bangladesh has about 68,000 villages, which are scattered throughout the country.  A village is called the rural part of the country. It is called rural because it does not have modern facilities like cities. The main occupation of the villagers is farming. They are the primary source of the nation's agricultural production.

 

Description of Villages

Villages have either tiny hamlets of thatched huts or large settlements of tiled roofs, stones, and brick homes. An impression has been created by artists and filmmakers that an Indian village is a simple cluster of mud-plastered walls, shaded by trees, overlooking the large expanses of green fields with a few people moving slowly and of course, bullock carts. They portray a village woman with a pot on her head and walking gracefully, her skirt swaying gently. The reality is that a village is the hub of nonstop activity, with their stronger work ethics. Agriculture is tough and requires hard work. The villagers work very hard and are always trying to find innovative methods of growing wheat, rice, and lentils. 

 

Importance of Village

The village is important because it is the primary sector of agricultural production for our country. The village is the backbone of Bangladesh economy. It also plays a major role in maintaining the ecological balance of the environment. Villages are mostly covered with trees and plants. They are covered with green grasslands. One can see acres of green fields as far as the eyes could see. They provide shelter to many animals. 

Life in Village

The village life is full of contentment and happiness, as people are not in a hurry like in city life. Village people live a very simple life. Villages are mostly situated far from the hustle and bustle of urban civilization. The beauty of nature can be experienced in a village as it is surrounded by trees, flowers, mountains, streams, and farmlands. There is no pollution in the village and one can feel the freshness in the breeze. The demands of the villagers are not too high but they are still deprived of basic facilities. Clean drinking water, electricity, health center, schools, proper sanitation are a few facilities that are lacking in the villages. Their poverty is always visible in the atmosphere. 

Conclusion

My village is a small abode for happy people.  Here they live in harmony and peace. The village people are very hardworking and thus they must have a good source of upliftment. Like the village’s schools and clinics should be maintained and increased in number. The farmers should be facilitated by helping them to leverage their sales, make them notified about the modern techniques used in farming, and give them compensation and knowledge of the true market price of their crops. Thus, I would request governmental authorities to come forward and uplift the medical, educational, and farming facilities in the village.

7 months ago

Problems of urban living in Bangladesh

Cities in Bangladesh are faced with the challenges of rapid population increase characterized by crises such as lack of economic dynamism, governance failure, severe infrastructure and service deficiencies, inadequate land administration, massive slums and social breakdown. However, urban centers continue to grow, despite the severity of these obstacles. As a result, urban areas in Bangladesh have exceptionally high population density, but relatively low economic density. High population density, combined with rapid urbanization, implies a large and fast-growing urban population to manage. Dhaka city, the largest urban conurbation in Bangladesh, is one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world. However, the economic density of Bangladesh’s urban areas (GDP or value-added per square km) is relatively low from an international perspective. Economic activity is concentrated in Dhaka and Chittagong. About 9% of the Bangladesh population lives in the Dhaka metropolitan area, which contributes to 36% of the country’s GDP. An additional 11% of the Bangladesh GDP is generated by Chittagong, the second-largest city and home to 3% of the population. The economic gap between Dhaka and Chittagong compared to other medium  and small-size cities is large and widening.

 

Bangladesh needs to build an urban space that is capable of innovating, is better connected and more livable in order to make cities competitive. Bangladesh’s urban space is falling behind in all three of these drivers of competitiveness. The Dhaka metro area needs to evolve into a diversified economy with skilled human resources and an innovation capacity fueled by the cross-fertilization of ideas typical of large metropolitan areas. Dhaka metro area also needs to be better connected internally and with its peri-urban areas, and both Dhaka and Chittagong have to strengthen their connection to the global economy. Improved connectivity within Bangladesh’s system of cities is also important for productivity and export competitiveness. The development of an economically dynamic urban space, in particular in the Dhaka metro region, has occurred at the expense of livability. The livability of the urban space will become an even more binding constraint to sustained growth as Bangladesh transitions to a new business model based on higher-value industries and services, which need a highly skilled and internationally mobile workforce. This  is a tall order for Bangladesh, but planning needs to start today for Bangladesh’s cities to become more competitive in future.

 

Urbanization have crucial role to play in the economic development of Bangladesh. The circumstances under which population in Dhaka and Chittagong are growing without proportionate infrastructural development will begin to wipe out most of the gains associated with urbanization. That is, relative high levels of urbanization may not be sufficient to ensure higher levels of economic welfare in Bangladesh. This has happened in Latin America with levels of urbanization, above 80%, yet with real per capita incomes about a third that of developed nations. It could happen in Bangladesh as well unless the urban managers rise from their prolonged slumber.

7 months ago

My school days

School is said to be a temple of knowledge, the very first place that introduced you to the world and more so your own self. My school life is all about the memories I deeply cherish. The memories of not only the fun, friendship and all the sport and extracurricular but also the way it helped me find my interests. I owe it all to my school life. It has made me who I am today.

My school life has been full of different experiences over the years. It gave various opportunities to develop not only my scholastic abilities but also the art and sport side. It supported me in my sports as well as exposed me to numerous types of people. All of this accounted to make me understand how to behave socially and in building a personality which I have today.

There are numerous things that make school life the best phase in one’s life. All of this eventually is because we are young to do mistakes again and again till we realize, dumb enough to not think about people and do what we feel like doing, curious to know everything we can and most importantly still not exposed and contaminated with the evil feelings of this world. And all of this makes us build a personality of our own.

7 months ago