OP-ED: Health, foodstuff, jobs: Beyond the budget

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The coronavirus pandemic has severely hit the economy of Bangladesh, as the united states was under lockdown for about two months. The government has announced several stimulus packages to regenerate the economy. The national cover the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (FY 2021) was declared on Thursday. 

Among the key goals from the budget was first to regenerate the Covid-19 affected market. In the Fiscal Season 2020, the full total allocation for the health sector (Health Companies Division, and medical Education and Family Welfare Division) was 1.02% of GDP which is lower than that of growing countries like India and Sri Lanka. In FY2018, India spent about 1.28% of its GDP for medical sector while for Sri Lanka the proportion was 1.48% in 2017. 

Evidently, as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, poor, and vulnerable households’ income possess dropped significantly, which has reduced their capability to invest their health. Even more, the federal government may incur more expenses for treatment to coronavirus affected people if the pandemic remains in FY2021. 

Considering each one of these issues, allocation to get the health sector deserved its significant boost. This will also increase job in this sector.

The government should be ensuring food security of the indegent. Enough food availability can be a prerequisite for guaranteeing food security. The government should undertake suitable policies to ensure enough food availability through domestic development, because reliance on food imports isn't a good option in this uncertain time. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively damaged the agricultural sector, through a likely fall in wholesale price, capital constraint, labour shortage, disruption in the way to obtain fertilizer, etc. Hence, this sector should be provided more than enough support in order that farmers produce more within the next cropping seasons.

The government has announced some support because of this sector (a stimulus package of Tk5,000 crore was announced; out of this fund, loans with 5% interest rate will be disbursed among farmers). May be the amount enough? Regarding to Dhaka Tribune (July 23rd, 2019), in the Fiscal Yr 2018-2019, about 2,989,237 tiny and marginal farmers received loans amounting to around Tk16,322.87 crore from the banking sector. 

These statistics indicate that the stimulus program for providing farmers with loans with a minimal rate of interest ought to be at least Tk16,322 crore. Hence FY2021 should allocate enough money to supply with all the tiny and marginal farmers with loans at a low rate of interest.

We also needed an increase found in the allocation for safety nets substantially. As it arrived from a survey conducted by the energy and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the BRAC Institute of Governance and Production (BIGD), during the countrywide lockdown, yet another 22.9% persons became temporarily poor. 

Relating to BBS estimate, in 2018/19, 20.5% of the full total population resided in poverty, indicating that during the lockdown period, about 43.4% of the total people was poor. It is likely that even after the situation normalizes, a number of these brand-new poor will never be in a position to earn enough to flee poverty because it might take time to revive the economy. 

So, there should be increased safeness nets to make sure food reliability of the poor. How much allocation for FY2021 should have been doubled since the charge of poverty has practically doubled as a result of Covid-19 pandemic. 

Employment generation ought to be another key focus in the year ahead. A study executed by the Asian Expansion Bank (ADB) demonstrates practically 41% of the total employed populace in the country are engaged in every the informal sectors aside from agriculture.

These sectors (manufacturing, low cost, and retail trade, transportation, storage, and communications) are also hit by the pandemic. Hence, as a way to revive the economy, they must get attention.

It is likely that RMG exports will fall in FY2021, which will probably reduce employment in this sector. Similarly, worldwide migration out of Bangladesh may reduction in FY2021. Hence these newly unemployed persons ought to be absorbed in other sectors.

As a result of Covid-19 pandemic, wellbeing expenditures may increase around the world. This may open prospects for Bangladesh to improve the export of the pharmaceutical goods. So, this sector ought to be given some support so that it can grow.

As the export earnings of Bangladesh are likely to fall in FY2021, we might have to undertake important substitution plans. For this function, the government may provide some support (such as for example loans at a lower interest) to the newborn industries which have the potential to grow. In regards to to expansion expenditure, the government should provide priority to labour-intensive projects.
Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com

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