Rejaul Karim Byron

The coronavirus crisis has worsened education inequality between rich and poor in Bangladesh as a huge number of students from poor families are not able to access the distance learning adopted by the government, according to a World Bank working paper.

Bangladesh’s economy will return to the high growth trajectory in the next fiscal year overcoming the scarring impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a United Nations report.

The government plans to take a Tk 428 crore project to develop the skills of 256,000 unemployed and disadvantaged women to turn them into entrepreneurs and create jobs.

In 2019, the government took up a project to construct the first terminal of the Payra Sea Port and its related infrastructure.

In 2017, the government took up a four-and-a-half-year project, worth over Tk 3,900 crore, to construct bridges in rural areas for boosting agricultural and non-agricultural productions as well as sending the produce to the market easily.

With small businesses still struggling to recover from the pandemic-induced economic slowdown, the government has rolled out two fresh stimulus packages involving Tk 2,700 crore to boost the cottage industry and SMEs and expand the social security scheme for the elderly and widows in poverty-stricken areas.

The cabinet committee on government purchase yesterday approved a proposal to import 50,000 tonnes of wheat.

Bangladesh will seek to retain the zero duty benefit and the market access for five years after its graduation to a developing country as the pandemic took a heavy toll on the nation’s economy.

The government in June last year granted a blanket immunity for whitening black money in a bid to bring them into the mainstream economy and generate more revenues and jobs.

In a bid to boost food grain reserve, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase yesterday approved a proposal for procuring 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice.

The World Bank has revised its GDP growth projection upwards for Bangladesh to 2 per cent for the last fiscal year, although the figure is still far lower than the government’s estimate.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said that black money whitening has increased in the country as the government has given the scope to invest untaxed income in the housing sector.

Around eight years ago, the government had approved a project to establish Kushtia Medical College and Hospital between January 2012 and December 2014 at the cost of Tk 275.44 crore.

The government will inoculate in phases nearly 14 crore people against Covid-19 with double-dose vaccine from the COVAX facility under a Tk 6,786 crore pandemic preparedness project.

Average inflation rose to a three-year high of 5.69 per cent in the just-concluded calendar year as food prices maintained an upward trend for most of 2020.

Black money-holders legalised the highest amount of undeclared assets in history in just six months of the current fiscal year as no government agency now raises questions about some sources of incomes due to a waiver announced in the budget.

A project on the construction of Chattogram City Outer Ring Road -- that was taken around ten years back in 2011 with four-year completion period -- is yet to be completed.

Black-money-holders legalised the highest amount of undeclared assets in history in just six months of the current fiscal year as no government agencies now ask questions about the sources of incomes.

The government is likely to downsize its income and expenditure targets in the revised budget because of lower revenue growth, slower implementation of development programmes and a fall in spending due to the pandemic.

Wage disbursements through digital payment methods is beneficial for employees as it helps increase savings and improves their ability to mitigate unanticipated financial shocks, according to a recent World Bank (WB) study.