Dhaka, March 19 -- As the war in the Middle East prolongs, affecting Bangladesh's already weakened economic base, a number of development partners have come up with proposals to provide higher volumes of budget support credit to help offset the impacts of the conflict.

Finance Division officials say there is no sign of the war ending very soon; thus, Bangladesh's economy may suffer badly if the conflict lingers for another month or two.

They apprehend that remittance inflows may decline significantly if Bangladeshi expatriate workers in the Middle East begin losing jobs due to the fallout of the war, which would put pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

Moreover, energy subsidies have already reached an all-time high, as last week the...