Bangladesh's top industry leaders issued a dire warning on Sunday, calling the nation's escalating economic crisis a "ticking time bomb." At a press conference at Dhaka’s Gulshan Club, they cautioned that persistent fuel shortages, soaring production costs, and government inaction could lead to a collapse mirroring a famine.
Representatives from the BTMA, FBCCI, BGMEA, BKMEA, BTTLMEA, BCI, and ICC-Bangladesh expressed deep concern. They pointed to widespread factory shutdowns, unpaid wages, increasing loan defaults, and crippling interest rates.
Showkat Aziz Russell, president of BTMA, drew a stark parallel between the current plight of business owners and the persecution faced by intellectuals during the 1971 Liberation War.
Other leaders condemned being billed for gas that was never supplied and warned that mass factory closures are imminent unless urgent measures, such as upgrades to energy infrastructure, are taken.