Dhaka, Aug. 14 -- A clarion call now comes from leaders of major trade bodies for deferring Bangladesh's LDC graduation by three to five years as businesses are rendered unprepared by last few years' economic volatility.

At a meet Thursday in Dhaka, they said the businesses were reeling from severe fallouts from Covid-19, the Russia -Ukraine war, higher global inflation, higher bank interest, the July-August political upheaval of last year, higher cost of production and last, but not the least, the higher US tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

So, this is not the time for smooth graduation and the graduation should be deferred three to five years, the speakers said at the seminar on 'LDC Graduation: Some options for Bangladesh'...