Opposition Jatiya party chairman and deputy leader of the opposition GM Quader on Wednesday voiced fear that Bangladesh might face a Sri Lanka-like economic crisis.

He expressed his apprehension while delivering his winding up speech in Parliament.

Also read: Misrule, graft set people on fire, says GM Quader

“The incidents in Sri Lanka are making us concerned, it was the advanced country in the South Asia, but suddenly their economy suffers debacle,” he said.

He listed setback in tourism sector due to COVID-19 pandemic and wrong decision in agricultural sector for the crisis.

“They suffered huge production loss, took billions of dollar in loan in the name of development, they just crumbled due to huge loan burden,” he said.

The JP chairman said that for Bangladesh there are three sectors which are remittances, RMG and agriculture.

“There is risk factors...agriculture might face setback due to weather, many countries might not give duty facilities as Bangladesh has entered  the middle income group and the economy might face a serious blow if the remittances suffer,” he said.

He also expressed his concern whether Bangladesh would be able to repay the foreugn loans.

“Our reserve is under pressure. We can not say definitely that our condition will not be like Sri Lanka,” he added.

Talking about the price spiral, the opposition leader said that this has created a serious issue across the country.

 “Mass people are expressing their concern regarding this, but when this matter is discussed in the Parliament the ministers refuse to accept it,” he said.

“Commerce Minister said there is nothing to do for the government regarding this as the prices of essentials have increased abroad,” he added.

In this connection he said that mass people think that middlemen and syndicate are behind the price hike.

“Corruption and extortion in various level are behind the price spiral,” he said.

Also read: Soaring prices hit people hard: GM Quader

GM Quader said that the traffic jam in Dhaka city is just like hell.

“We want development, but development programmes must be taken in a planned way and to be completed in time,” he said.

“People of Bangladesh are under immense sufferings due to the development activities. All projects are running simultaneously, traffic jams must not take place under the mega plan of development,” he said.