Bangladesh’s ongoing political crisis is ‘high risk’ for fragile economy

Political unrest in Bangladesh is crippling the country's already shaky economy and hurting small traders and ordinary residents [Nazmul Islam/Al Jazeera]

Vegetable trader Afsar Uddin was distraught. He needed to pay nearly 50 percent more to bring a truck of vegetables to his shop in Karwan Bazar, the largest wholesale market for fresh produce in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.

The ongoing countrywide road-rail-waterway blockade imposed by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies has disrupted the supply chains and significantly pushed up the cost of transport because only a fraction of the trucks and buses have been on the road during the shutdown.