Editorial
Strikes cost country dearly
Hartals paralyse vital sectors
REGRETTABLY, confrontational politics remain at the core of our national culture. Apart from causing human misery, the economy must bear the full brunt of hartals. No sector is left untouched by the onslaught of strikes and blockades. According to the World Bank, the equivalent cost of a day's hartal comes to roughly US$200 million in lost productivity. Going by our experience of hartals in 2012, we are looking at a loss of an estimated $2 billion per annum from the GDP.
On a more basic level, hartals and other such agitation programmes cause inflation that hurt the man on the street. When political parties turn a deaf ear to the needs of our students, millions of primary and secondary school going children preparing for major examinations cannot sit for their crucial exams. As we turn towards the productive sector, the largest contributor to our foreign exchange (more than $20 billion per annum) is hard hit when strikes lock down the country. Although we have not reached critical mass, international buyers are turning increasingly jittery about the ongoing political stalemate coupled with violence and the last thing we need is for a fall in orders due to loss of confidence in Bangladesh.
These are not unknown facts. It is unfortunate that our political leaders, irrespective of party affiliation wholeheartedly embrace violent confrontation rather than exhaust all options to finding a peaceful resolution to the current political gridlock. We shudder to think that personal ego has now transcended above the collective interests of the people and the country.
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