The Russia-Ukraine war is approaching its one-year anniversary, with no end in sight to the fighting. The ongoing war has created a humanitarian catastrophe as well as a new shock for the entire world. Supply disruptions and financial sanctions have posed serious economic challenges all over. Almost every country of the globe is feeling the heat of the unwanted war. War-related sanctions are impacting all economies in the world. Bangladesh is no different. It is also feeling the heat of the war in many ways. The price of many commodities skyrocketed with multiple times price hikes all over the country. According to yesterday’s report of a prominent vernacular daily, the country is facing the adverse effect of the war, with reduction in exports to Russia as well as rise in import bills, mainly for oil and food. 

Global sanctions on Russia imply an inevitable fall in Dhaka-Moscow trade. Russia is a market for Bangladesh’s RMG products. A graph of the Bangla daily has shown that in FY2021-22, our export to Russia was USD 458.56 million which sharply came down to USD247.39 in FY2022-23. We are deeply worried finding a major collapse in export of our products to Russia. Being an oil-importing country, Bangladesh is already feeling the pressure through high import payments. With high oil prices, the chain effect is felt through a hike in the prices of gas, fertiliser and other essentials. The government raised diesel prices, which has already been reflected in the high transport costs and prices of other essential items.