Political instability in FY \\\'14 causes Tk 110b loss

Political instability and vandalism during the outgoing fiscal year (FY) caused losses to the tune of Tk 110 billion to the national economy which is around 1.0 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product), Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in his budget speech Thursday citing a World Bank survey.

He said in the run-up to the 10th national election there had been a series of political unrests in the first six months of the outgoing fiscal year.

"Various political parties and alliances observed a total of 45 days of hartals and blockades during July 2013 to January 2014. These hartals and blockades were not limited to 12 or 24 hours, rather at times continued even for a week," he said.

Mr Muhith said communication was disrupted, port activities came to a halt, retail and wholesale buying-selling came down to almost zero which had a debilitating effect on government revenue collection.

Frenzied destruction of government properties was another salient feature of such hartals and blockades. The main targets of attack were Bangladesh Railway and government and non-government transports, he said adding: "Government offices and educational institutions were not spared either. Alongside the mass destruction of properties there had been a number of death incidents as well."

The finance minister said the political instability had badly affected the revenue collection.