President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) Barrister Md Sameer Sattar on Thursday said Bangladesh’s private sector credit growth is essential to make the economy vibrant and competitive.

Along with this, he requested the government to reduce the cost of business operations, get easy loans for small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs), expand import substitution industries, continue to achieve austerity in government expenditure, and take up priority development projects.

Sameer Sattar said DCCI believes that the private sector credit flow will increase in a short period of time with the development of a business-friendly environment in the economy.

Above all, the Dhaka Chamber emphasizes on public and private sectors working together to lead to a developed and inclusive growth-supporting economic system, taking into account the importance of the private sector as the main driving force of the economy.

Barrister Sattar said time-bound solutions are expected to change and improve the pro-business environment in the economy and cease the lowering of private sector credit flow in no time.

“Taking the importance of the private sector as the lifeline of the economy into account, we need to exert shared and strategic efforts to enhance the private sector credit flow in order to steer the economy towards a higher and inclusive growth regime as well as much-needed economic graduation in the days to come,” he added.

Over the past decade, Bangladesh has emerged as a role model for developing countries, witnessing an average of 6 percent plus GDP growth backed by consistent growth in socioeconomic fronts.

The private sector has evolved as the key driver of economic growth and employment generation in Bangladesh, contributing significantly to the economy in terms of investment, production, trade, and employment growth. Currently, the private sector contributes more than 80 percent to the GDP with a 37 percent share of Industry to GDP.

Furthermore, the private sector has contributed greatly to building a strong local industrialization base by creating SMEs and large businesses in diverse sectors that have strengthened and connected our local value chain with the global value chain system, said a statement of DCCI.