Govt embargoes employees' unnecessary foreign tours

The government bans unnecessary foreign tours for its employees as an austerity measure to save Bangladesh's foreign-exchange reserves amid a global crunch.
The Ministry of Finance issued Thursday a notification to this effect citing the urgency of post-pandemic economic recovery and present global crisis as the reasons for this partial moratorium.
"… all types of exposure visit/study tour/ travel under APA and innovation and participation in workshop/seminar will remain suspended until a new order is issued," says the notification.
This order is applicable to both the cases of foreign trips involving expenses under development and operating budget, it adds.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal Wednesday told newsmen that spending foreign currency would be curbed to effectively manage the present moment.
At the moment reserves of many countries are bearing strains for global supply-chain disruptions and price spirals that result in higher spending on imports than lower income from exports.
He said the Prime Minister had ordered not to allow any more foreign trips for public servants unless unavoidable.
With the country's foreign-currency reserves depleting due to higher import costs against lower forex receipts from export and remittance, the government has ordered various belt-tightening measures which include curbing unnecessary imports and deferring execution of less-important development projects.
An FE report quoting the central bank statistics available Wednesday had said reserves hurtled down to $41.95b, from the peak $48.04 billion, after the latest ACU payment against import bills.
Bangladesh's forex reserves had surged to $48.04 billion on August 24 last calendar year, setting a new record,
In the meantime, a gaping current-account deficit stemming from the country's trade gap stands as a point to reckon with when financial crises in various countries, especially in neighbouring Sri Lanka, come into reference in talk.

syful-islam@outlook.com