Speakers at a webinar on Tuesday observed that the country’s economy is progressing in the right direction despite manifold COVID-led challenges, but, there are some rooms for further private sector centric economic development.
The remarks were made following an assessment of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on the macroeconomic perspective of the country over the last 6 months.
DCCI arranged the webinar on “current state and future outlook of Bangladesh’s economy: private sector perspective - July-December FY2020-21”.
Dr. MashiurRahman, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs, Government of Bangladesh joined the webinar as the chief guest. Dr. AtiurRahman, former Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI) and Dr. M MasrurReaz, Chairman, Policy Exchange were also participated as special discussants.
While addressing, Dr. Mashiursaid“ we need to be concerned more on how to mobilize the savings which we have. Government is focusing on rural economy and the agriculture sector. Government has successfully managed Covid-led crisis. Policies are on the right track and the growth momentum is sustained”,
Demand is little bit subdued however the private sector needs to raise their productivity now. Bangladesh experienced reasonably good in export despite covid as well as remittance has also increased, but it need to be more careful about the NRBs returning home from the covid-hit labour market.
He also suggested all to be optimistic as Government has come up with various policy support for the private sector and he urged the private sector to utilize this policy regime.
Both public and private sectors can go hand in hand in the days to come towards the road to recovery to achieve the game-changing economic transformation of Bangladesh by 2041, said the Chamber’s President RizwanRahman while addressing the webinar
DCCI President RizwanRahman in his power point presentation highlighted that the Covid impacted manifold on the economy of Bangladesh. He said, GDP value reduced to USD330 billion against the target of USD 343.55 billion with 8.20% growth in FY2019-20. National poverty rate rose by 9% to 29.5%. RizwanRahman recommended for automation of taxation system.
He also said according to ILO and ADB about 1.7 million youth lost their jobs due to Covid pandemic. DCCI President thus emphasized on skill development and highly recommended for industry-academia collaboration, increasing investment in education and research and development and enhancing technical and vocational education net. In the context of industry perspective,
Dr. AtiurRahman, former Governor of Bangladesh Bank said that we have to have sufficient liquidity in the banks. And the liquidity should go to the productive sector, he mentioned. Meanwhile, Government has eased some policy measures to ensure liquidity available which is a good sign, he said. Moreover, policies need to be sustainable without frequent changes, he added.
Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI) said we should not only focus on restoration rather we have to be prepared for the future challenges. He also underscored the importance of reducing poverty rate. Government needs to give support for the increase of production and employment generation. Banks should be more flexible in SME lending. Besides, Loan Guaranty Scheme of Bangladesh Bank is not implemented yet. But, resource mobilization, big data management, less physical control and efficient management system are essential to improve tax-GDP ratio, he added.
Dr. MasrurReaz, Chairman, Policy Exchange said to identify post-covid challenges, public private dialogue may play a key role.
He said during the covid time supportive measures to the agriculture supply chain worked well. Export is slightly subdued as the export market is going through an uncertainty.
AbulKasem Khan, Chairman, BUILD said economy is a recovery stage but there are some challenges. In the Taxation policy we need to be competitive with the other countries. Our Tax-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the region.
DCCI Senior Vice President NKA Mobin, FCS, FCA gave vote of thanks while Vice President MonowarHossain and members of the board of directors took part.
