Industrial stagnation and shrinking private investment have caused 14 lakh people to lose jobs, leaving them “wandering on the streets without employment,” Ha-Meem Group Managing Director and former FBCCI president A.K. Azad said on Saturday.
Speaking at the opening session of the Bangladesh Economic Conference 2025 at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital, he said the country is failing to create new jobs despite the growing labour force. The event was organised by Bonik Barta.
“Every year, 30 lakh people enter the job market. Of them, 1.2 lakh are recruited in government and semi-government agencies, 8 lakh go abroad, and 10 lakh get jobs in the private sector. The rest remain unemployed. But new employment is not being generated as expected, which is pushing unemployment further up,” he added.
Referring to Bangladesh Bank’s bulletin published on November 23, Azad said the country’s GDP growth was 4.22 per cent last year, which is expected to decline to 3.97 per cent this year. He also pointed to rising classified loans, noting that although the central bank reports the figure at 24 per cent, “the actual number is much higher.”
“To pay dividends to shareholders, many banks engage in window dressing. If loans are classified, the money has to be provisioned, which reduces their profits. If we consider the real figure to be around 35 per cent, we must find out where the money went and who took it. We expect the next government to investigate and bring those responsible under the law,” he said.
Azad criticised the strict contractionary monetary policy implemented by the central bank governor, saying higher interest rates have severely squeezed the private sector. “We received only 6 percent credit (credit growth). Industrialization is in a very bad state. Capital machinery imports fell last year, and this year they declined a further 26 per cent,” he added.
The former independent MP said the government is struggling to cover expenses from revenue and has been borrowing heavily from banks to pay salaries. “Government borrowings from banks have reached 27 percent,” he noted.
Azad also expressed deep concern over the growing energy crisis. He said Bangladesh has 7.80 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, while annual demand is 3,800 million cubic feet. “Thirty percent of this demand is met through imports and 70 percent from reserves. As a result, reserve levels are declining by 9 percent each year.”
“At this rate, gas reserves may run out within 6–7 years, leaving us entirely import-dependent. Investors are worried about this scenario,” he said.
BSSMA President and GPH Group Chairman Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Director General Prof. A.K. Enamul Haque, and ABB Chairman and City Bank Managing Director Mashrur Arefin also spoke at the session.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur chaired the inaugural session, while Bonik Barta Editor and Publisher Dewan Hanif Mahmud moderated the discussion.