Loan moratorium needs to be continued next year

While many around me are dying from Covid-19, I think living in good health is the greatest achievement of the passing year. This is the biggest expectation that people and the economy and trade will be saved from Covid-19 in 2021. 

The government will provide the necessary support to ensure a normal life and livelihood of people. If the Covid-19 situation is brought under control and the necessary assistance is provided by the government, I hope that trade and employment in the country will revive in the upcoming year.

We held long-term discussions with the government on business, investment, and employment security after the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. In this context, the government has announced a large-scale incentive package. 

The government has decided that businessmen will not be declared defaulters even if they do not pay loan instalments. It seems that this moratorium facility needs to continue all through the next year.

Hopefully, the moratorium will continue. But everything depends on the Covid-19 situation. To ensure the supply of credit to businessmen, the government has taken steps to increase liquidity in banks in addition to the incentive packages and brought down the interest rate on bank loans to a single digit.

We expect to get all the necessary assistance from the government to keep businesses running at a normal pace in the upcoming year. I hope the government will formulate a business-friendly tax and value added tax (VAT) policy in the next budget to attract new investments and reap the benefits of the existing investments with an emphasis on job creation.

Though initially, there was a lacking in the preparation of providing healthcare facilities, now the situation has improved. I hope the quality of healthcare services will improve next year.

Sheikh Fazle Fahim, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI)