Dhaka, Nov. 21 -- The economy often sends warnings long before a crisis becomes visible to the naked eye.

Those warnings are now arriving in Bangladesh in unmistakable patterns. The signals are scattered across credit markets, factories, ports, and trading floors, yet they all point to a single conclusion.

The country is facing an investment freeze triggered by collapsing confidence, and it is unfolding at a moment when political uncertainty is gradually becoming the central variable shaping economic outcomes.

The downward trend in private sector credit growth captures this economic anxiety with stark clarity.

Bank lending to businesses slipped to 6.29 percent in the September quarter, the lowest in four years.

Credit demand reveals ...