Restoring connectivity in business, economy

It has been a week of total disruption of the communications system and the supply chain since July 17 when agitating anti-quota students called a nationwide shutdown. The indefinite curfew that the government enforced to combat the ensuing violence across the nation, only made matters worse. Then came the phase of total isolation, when the internet service was totally disrupted, a situation that can be likened to the condition of a human body with its central nervous system gone dysfunctional. In consequence, the losses to the domestic as well as the external sectors of business and economy have been colossal.

Thus the government suffered immensely, if only for the loss of revenue that it earns from business activities within the country. Though the actual revenue loss to the government exchequer cannot be assessed until normality returns in the country, one can at least make an intelligent guess about it. A report carried by this paper in its July 22 issue did come up with such an estimate of the lost revenue, which was to the tune of Tk8.73 billion on a daily basis. Consider the cumulative value of such losses suffered during the last week and what it would come to in case the dislocation continues indefinitely. One can only imagine what the overall revenue loss would come to if the accounts of different customs points at the land ports and seaports of the country are taken.

The post-assessment release of the imported goods at the border custom points is reportedly being greatly hampered due to the loss of internet connectivity. Against this backdrop, to facilitate early release of at least the perishable goods, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is learnt to have ordered all the customs houses of the country to allow assessments of those goods to be done manually like it was done in time when there was no computer or internet. Though inefficient and tardy, it is the only possible solution to bank on at the moment, if only to avoid backlogs and damage to imported perishable items. Chattogram port, for instance, the hub of the country's external trade, has over the last one week, seen only two container ships, one of those being empty, leaving the port.

The cumulative loss suffered by the garment sector alone during the last seven days will be staggering as it usually exports goods worth US$150 million through the port every day. So, the longer the stalemate is, the bigger the loss for businesses. Clearly, the garments sector that earns the highest amount of forex along with remittance sent by expatriate workers has been the worst victim of the communications disruption. So has the government been in terms of uncollected revenues.

Counting the government's revenue losses will be a meaningless exercise, unless urgent measures are taken to restore order and connectivity at the same time, both internally and externally. To the external world, Bangladesh at the moment is a terra incognito, if only for the loss of communication with it. This is sending a wrong signal to the external business partners and potential investors. The crisis the nation going through at the moment is obviously a manmade one. So, it is up to the government to go to the bottom of the crisis and resolve it as soon as possible since the stakes are too high to allow the current state of socio-economic disorder to continue and fester.