The situation of foreign investment in Bangladesh is becoming more critical. In the first quarter (July-September) of the fiscal year 2024-25, a net foreign investment of 104.3 million dollars has come into the country, which is 71 percent less than the same period of last year. According to the statistics provided by Bangladesh Bank, in the last 11 years, such low FDI has never come in a single quarter.

Many businessmen and economists, including Professor Salim Raihan of the University’s Department of Economics, feel that foreign investors are losing interest in investing due to political and economic instability in Bangladesh. Due to political unrest, the business environment has become difficult, leading to this fall in investment.

The analysis of FDI shows that in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, new investment (equity) came in at only $76.8 million, which is almost three times less than the previous quarter. However, during this period, $72.9 million of investment income came through reinvestment. As a result, the total net FDI stood at $104.3 million.

In addition, Bangladesh’s total FDI in the fiscal year 2023-24 was $1.47 billion, which is 8.80 percent less than the previous fiscal year. The amount of new investment has also decreased. Experts fear that the flow of new investment will decrease further in 2024.

Business environment problems, such as corruption, financing constraints, foreign exchange volatility, high inflation, and inefficient bureaucracy, have become major challenges for businessmen. Besides, high tax rates are also making the business environment more difficult. According to a recent CPD survey, nearly 17 percent of businessmen identified corruption as a major barrier to doing business.