PM Hasina: Bangladesh economy showed resilience amid Covid-19

Bangladesh has been able to avert the economic recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, when many countries across the world have suffered, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

“It was possible to maintain the normal economic situation in the country as the government took special steps to save human lives and face the economic crisis during the coronavirus pandemic," she said on Wednesday, while responding to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Rawshan Ara Mannan and ruling party MP Kazim Uddin during the prime minister’s Q&A session in parliament.

Responding to a question from Ahsanul Huq, the prime minister said the government had been facing the problem with caution from the very beginning of the pandemic, UNB reports.

"As a result, Bangladesh has been able to relatively show a better success in controlling the spiralling number of Covid-19 cases, death rate and economic losses," she said.

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Responding to Jatiya Party MP Shamim Haider Patwary, Sheikh Hasina said the government had taken various measures to send back Bangladeshi expatriates by creating new employment opportunities for those who have lost their jobs abroad and failed to go back to their job destinations, as they got stuck in Bangladesh due to the pandemic.

The prime minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in touch with the foreign ministries of the countries which recruit migrant workers.

"Three points are getting importance in this regard: ensuring minimum food and health facilities of the terminated expatriates, facilitating the return of those lost jobs with all benefits and six months' salaries, and requesting the destination countries for creating Covid-19 recovery and response fund for creating jobs and setting up of small industries in those countries," she added.

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According to the World Economic League Table 2021 of British economic research organization Centre for Economic and Business Research, Bangladesh will be the 25th largest economy by 2035 if the economic expansion which Bangladesh is currently going through continues, UNB reports.

In this report, the prime minister said, there is a forecast about the economic growth of the countries over the next year, and also the next 15 years. As per the index of 2020, Bangladesh is now the 41st economy in the world.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many countries suffered economic recession, but Bangladesh has largely been able to avert the situation, the prime minister said.

In FY2020, the economic growth of the country was 5.24% while the growth in FY2019 was 8.15%, which was the highest in the history of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said.

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She also said a process is underway to gather 30 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, and the vaccination program will begin soon.

Replying to reserved seat MP Sultana Nadira, the Leader of the House said the first phase of providing 66,000 houses among the landless and homeless families is underway, marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Sheikh Hasina mentioned that the government would gradually give houses to 885,522 families across the country.

Replying to Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga, she said a process is on under the Delta Plan, to form Delta Fund structure and policy for conducting the fund.

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Earlier on Wednesday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal echoed the prime minister’s remarks about the economy.

Presenting a report on budget implementation progress, trend of income, expenditure and economic analysis of the first half (July-December) period of the current fiscal year at parliament on Wednesday, the finance minister said the country’s economy had been rebounding from the Covid-19 shocks due to the time-befitting steps of the government alongside implementation of the stimulus packages.

“In the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year (FY21), the major macroeconomic indicators like inward remittance, foreign currency reserves, money supply and inflation are in a very satisfactory position,” he told parliament, while expressing his firm resolve that Bangladesh would soon step into a developing country status from the list of LDCs, reports BSS.

“The Taka-Dollar exchange rate has long been remained stable while the current account and balance of payments account are also in positive trajectory,” he added.