Dhaka, March 11 -- President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Taskeen Ahmed have urged the government to defer Bangladesh's graduation from least developed country (LDC) status for at least 2 to 3 years considering the prevailing global and local economic challenges.

He said that an acute shortage of energy in the industrial sector, rising inflation and steep duty on import, high interest rates, procedural complexities in obtaining bank credit and limited access to credit for the private sector still pose a serious challenge to the country's economy.

He made the observations at a Focus Group Discussion on "Implementation of the STS for Smooth Transition from LDC Status" jointly organised by Support to Sustainable Graduat...