Economists and businessmen in Bangladesh have warned of a negative fallout on the economy and fear a fall in foreign investment following the more than 400 blasts that shook the country Wednesday.

Civil society, economists and businessmen were highly critical of the blasts, saying that it would tarnish the image of the country and put the economy in dire straits, The Bangladesh Observer reported Friday.

According to the report, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Debapriya Bhattacharya termed the bombings as a national disaster. He said the incident would have a serious impact on the economy.

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) termed the incident as a plot to tarnish the image of the country. "Such ghastly activities would have a negative effect on the economy," said a DCCI statement.

Poor trading has been witnessed in stock markets after the explosions. Thursday's closings at the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges registered a dismal picture.

Traders feared that the bombings would affect local as well as foreign investment. They believe that the blasts exposed the failure of the government in providing adequate security.

Normal transactions in the foreign exchange market and private commercial banks continued to be hit Thursday. The dollar rate and inter-bank monetary rates suffered depressive fluctuations, while leasing, insurance and other financial institutions received poor responses from customers.

The newspaper report quoted sources as saying that Bangladesh was already seen as a corrupt country by foreign investors and the bombings and grenade attacks would further affect investment flow as investors could feel the government was at the mercy of extremists.

They noted that the economy was already facing a severe crisis in terms of inflation, foreign exchange management and fiscal deficit. The record high international oil prices had further fuelled the country's problems.

The sources said that new investments, both local and foreign, could not be expected under such circumstances. The explosions clearly reflected the long-persisting governance problems of the country, they said.