Business leaders on Thursday said that frequent policy changes by the central bank hampered their business and they called for long-term stable policies to ensure smooth business operations.
Representatives of various business bodies, led by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, met with Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rouf Talukder to discuss recent policy changes.
On May 8, the BB took three firm steps following pressure from the International Monetary Fund. It raised the dollar rate by Tk 7 to Tk 117. The policy rate determination for interest rates has been removed from the SMART system and placed on the market. The maximum limit for policy rate hikes has been increased by 10 per cent to increase the cost of borrowing from banks.
Following the meeting, FBCCI president Mahbubul Alam told reporters that when companies plan projects, they consider various factors such as interest rates and exchange rates.
However, if the central bank changes its policies shortly after, businesses incur losses. He emphasised that frequent policy changes create difficulties for businesses to plan effectively and requested the central bank to maintain long-term policies for better business strategy planning.
The central bank assured them that such things would not happen in future
He also suggested that the central bank should discuss with the stakeholders before making any changes in policies.
Mahbubul Alam also mentioned that despite the central bank鈥檚 interest rate adjustments, the governor assured them that the interest rate would not exceed 14 per cent. He added, 鈥業t is now almost fixed at 14 per cent and good borrowers will get loans at 1 per cent less.鈥�
He said that there was dollar crisis on the market and businesses suffered from sudden hike of dollar rate.
He said that the governor assured them that dollar rate would remain at Tk 117 and there would not be a big difference in the open market and banks
It has also been assured that the dollar market will return to normal by next December, he said.
Former FBCCI president Md Jashim Uddin, FBCCI senior vice-president Md Amin Helaly, vice-president Md Munir Hossain, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Ashraf Ahmed, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Kamran T Rahman, BGMEA president SM Mannan, BTMA president聽 Mohammad Ali Khokon, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem and PRAN-RFL Group CEO Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, among others, were present at the meeting.