DHAKA: Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) president Hossain Khaled said the political turmoil in the country has eaten up some Tk 36,445 crore in 16 days.

He told the media at a press conference held at DCCI auditorium in city’s Motijheel area on Thursday.

Detailing the losses in different sectors, the business leader said that the country is facing everyday the loss of Tk over 2,277 crore.

According to him, the Readymade Garments (RMG) sector is suffering the highest level of loss, being followed by transport, agriculture, housing and tourism.

He further informed the media that as per statistic, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for one day costs over Tk 3,701 crore. In the last 16 days, the loss was estimated as 2.70 percent of the GDP.

Terming the current reserve and flow of remittance as positive, the BCCI president said the nation should attain 8 percent GDP while 30 percent of GDP needs to be invested to touch the goal of a middle income country by 2021.

A business-friendly environment is needed to keep the flow of investment uninterrupted, he commented.

Moreover, initiatives should be taken both from government and private sectors to exploit the geographically strategic position of Bangladesh in the regional cooperation group called BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar), Khaled opined.

BDST: 1735 HRS, JAN 22, 2015