Boris Johnson’s resignation good for Bangladesh: former BGMEA president Kutubuddin Ahmed

Kutubuddin Ahmed, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said Johnson's resignation bodes well for Bangladesh.

"Boris Johnson became unpopular without it even coming to his attention. He was arrogant. Even if he made good decisions both the conservatives and the labour parties would oppose it. His resignation would benefit us all. It will be good for the UK's trade partners," he said.

Calling him the weakest PM in UK's history, Kutubuddin also said Johnson tried to use the Ukraine war as a distraction, clinging on to the office even after an unprecedented revolt which saw 50 members of Parliament resign from his government within 48 hours.

The truth of Kutubuddin's assessment could be immediately gauged by looking at the value of the pound.

The currency jumped in the aftermath of the PM's resignation, rising as much as 0.8 per cent against the dollar on Thursday. The sterling hit a high of $1.2023 and also reached a four-week high against the euro, at €1.173, The Financial Times reported.

Britain's inflation rate hit 9.1% in May, a new 40-year high and up slightly on the previous month, The Office for National Statistics said. 

Meanwhile, the Bank of England forecasts inflation to reach 11% in the autumn, another gloomy record.

Rising inflation has already seen people cutting down some non-essential expenditures, with clothing being one of those. 

The fallout from this on the Bangladeshi export scene is yet to be seen.

The warning bells for this had been rung months earlier.

"We are already feeling the pressure of inflation. Some buyers have started to defer purchase orders, because in such a situation people will spend mainly for food, and buy clothes a little less," said Faruqe Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), at a press conference in the middle of May.