Stressing the importance of vaccination to stop the Coronavirus, Planning Minister MA Mannan on Sunday said vaccines should be arranged for the people of the country as soon as possible.

“If we can't achieve herd immunity, then we’ll lose our export markets," he said while speaking at a webinar titled ‘Reflections on the Budget 2021-22’ organised jointly by the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF), Research Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) and The Asia Foundation (TAF).

Referring to issue of new poor in Bangladesh due to the pandemic, Mannan said various research firms like SANEM, PPRC and PRI are showing the number of new poor in between one crore to five crore, but there is a large variation.

"Anyway, we'll have to address the issue, we'll have to sharpen our instruments to address the issue. We admit it and we’re committed intellectually, morally and in all possible ways to address the issue," he said.

Mentioning that the country is now moving forward riding a tripod which consists of agriculture, exports and inward remittances, the minister said the inward remittances of those are now playing the vital role where 2 percent cash incentives provided by the government is now paying off.

Turning to the quality of data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), he said they are trying to improve the quality of data of the Bureau.

He said efforts will be there in the coming days to further improve the ease of doing business index.

Mannan said there is an existence of a huge informal sector in the country and that sector should have to be brought under a system.

He suggested that the revenue board offices should have to be expanded up to upazila level as there are many growing eligible enterprises which could be brought under the tax net.

To address the inequalities, the minister said, the government has no miracle, but there are of course some ways to reduce the pain. "The government is trying to reduce that pain more at the bottom line as inequality has increased in the upper line."

He noted that the "wonder of wonders" over the last 12 and a half years of the government was ensuring almost cent percent electricity to the households which is also playing a vital role in addressing poverty.

FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said the country is still going through the pandemic where the utmost priority should be saving lives and then maintaining the livelihood.

"Vaccination is very important as the whole world, especially Europe and America, is now moving fast with vaccination. If we can't keep up the pace, then we'll fall into trouble, and our exports will get stopped," he said.

Noting that the proposed budget for FY22 has covered almost all the areas, the president of the country's apex trade body has demanded the government withdraw the provision for advance income tax (AIT) and advance VAT.

He suggested setting up tax and VAT offices at the upazila level to further boost the revenue collection and thus enhance the tax-GDP ratio in the country.

Laying emphasis on further strengthening the NBR, Jashim said the businesses want to pay taxes, but the procedures should have to be simplified further.

He also said there is no alternative to improvement in infrastructures to face the LDC graduation challenges.

The FBCCI president also proposed awarding another stimulus package for the micro and small entrepreneurs where the apex trade body could work as a link between the small and micro entrepreneurs and the banking system.

"The small and micro enterprises are driving forward the country's economy."

BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said the economy of Bangladesh has performed very well compared to other countries despite the Covid-19 pandemic due to the resilience in inward remittance and exports.

He, however, noted that there was no such private investment in the country over the last one and a half years due to this deadly virus.

He said without such a huge level of private investment, there would not be necessary employment generations.

Underscoring the need for bringing the country's people under vaccination, Faruque said the country is still lagging behind in vaccination, but the major export destinations like the EU, the USA and the UK have advanced a lot in this drive.

The BGMEA president said they would not need any stimulus package, if the ease of doing business index is improved to a desired level and thus the businesses could save valuable time.

Citing the high potential of non-cotton apparel, he said the garment makers are now ready to go big in this area, but need some policy support and incentives from the government, which could help them further flourish and thus could generate more jobs.

He also said ration card system could be introduced to reach essential items to RMG workers at an affordable price, BTRC could help to provide transport facilities to the workers while housing facilities could be provided to the workers on government khas lands.

Executive Director of RAPID Dr Abu Eusuf presented the Keynote paper. ERF President Sharmeen Rinvy presided the event while ERF General Secretary SM Rashidul Islam moderated it.