Covid Pandemic
Rebuilding Bangladesh: A resolute plan for resilient recovery
Building a resilient economic recovery to emerge stronger from the Covid pandemic would be Bangladesh's growth mantra for the next three years.
This inference can be drawn from a government document that looks at how the Covid second wave and the consequent economic slowdown have affected the growth momentum in Bangladesh and mulls measures to overcome the crisis.
Read: Post-pandemic economy: Bangladesh's blueprint for reviving investment atmosphere
According to the Finance Ministry document, economic recovery will be central to Sheikh Hasina government's forward-looking agenda for the next three years, which will focus on the effective implementation of a slew of state policies through agressive spending.
"In the medium term, the government will put emphasis on economic recovery from the fallout of Covid-19 and on implementing the Eighth Five-Year Plan, SDGs (sustainable development goals), Second Perspective Plan, Delta Plan 2100, and Blue Economy strategies," it states.
Over the past decade, Bangladesh has been achieving a steady and stable economic growth along with maintaining sound macroeconomic stability with stable inflation, low public debt, and greater resilience to external shocks.
In fact, in FY19, the growth rate reached a record 8.15 percent but due to the Covid-19 fallout, "the growth rate sharply declined to 5.2 percent in FY20", the document says.
"In the last fiscal, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth target was initially set at 8.2 percent, but the second wave of the pandemic in April 2021 forced a revision of the target to 6.1 percent."
On the demand side, private consumption, export-import and public investment have largely been affected by the pandemic. And on the supply side, farm output has been satisfactory so far "but manufacturing, construction and service sectors have been significantly affected", the document says.
Read:ADB pegs Bangladesh's GDP at 6.8% this fiscal
GDP is the total monetary or market value of all finished goods and services produced in a country within a specific time.
Alongside, Bangladesh also achieved praiseworthy improvement in social indicators, such as reducing poverty rate and infant mortality rate and increasing life expectancy and literacy rate.
As per the document, Bangladesh has already qualified for the least developed country (LDC) graduation. "It has met, for the second time, all the three eligibility criteria for LDC graduation involving income per capita, human assets, and economic and environmental vulnerability."
14th parliament session prorogued
The fourteenth session of the 11th parliament was prorogued on Thursday, after only seven sittings as it was another short session amid the Covid pandemic.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury read out the prorogation order of the President.
Earlier, Leader of the Parliament and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Parliament GM Quader delivered their concluding speeches.
Nine bills were placed in the session that began on the first day of this month.
During the brief session, 31 important notices under section 71 of the rules of procedure were received, but none of them was discussed.
Read: Medical Degrees (Repeal) Bill goes through Parliament
Twenty-four questions were received for prime minister’s question-answer session and she replied to 16 of them. The session also received 584 questions for different ministers with the minsters answering 389 ones.
Only a limited number of MPs joined the parliament session maintaining health safety rules due to the pandemic.
There was a parliament sitting of this session on Friday, which is unusual as the day is a public holiday.
Before reading out the prorogation order, the Speaker thanked all the MPs of treasury and opposition benches and all other officials concerned for their cooperation in holding the session smoothly.
How Jashore’s fisheries output grew in the midst of a pandemic
In the midst of the most significant economic slowdown in decades, the fisheries sector in coastal district Jashore proved a mainstay for the economy in the 2020-21 fiscal, that helped Bangladesh avoid recession or even contraction.
Bangladesh’s GDP growth fell from 8.2% in the 2019-20 fiscal to just 3.8% in 2020-21 – theslowest annual growth in the country’s GDP in 30 years. That represents a slump in economic activity that would have been unacceptable in normal times.
But in a year blighted by the virus where we saw most countries experience contraction in their economies (negative growth), Bangladesh’s 3.8% was the fifth-highest GDP growth rate in the world.
Read Hilsa Ilisha: The National Fish and Silver Pride of Bangladesh
The economic downturn brought on by the pandemic affected almost every sector in the country. The impact was pervasive yet uneven. This was the general picture reflected in most economies around the world.
For the record, the world economy did fall into recession in 2020, with the IMF's final assessment estimating it shrank 3.3%.
The fisheries sector emerged as one of the major pillars holding up the economy and helping Bangladesh to avoid a recession. Technically, a country’s economy enters recession once it experiences two successive quarters of negative growth, or contraction. To get out of a recession then requires two successive quarters of growth back.
Read: Hilsa prices rise as catch from the Padma dries up
WB delays decision to fund road safety project: Obaidul Quader
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday said the World Bank is delaying its decision to finance Bangladesh’s road safety project despite repeatedly expressing interest in it.
"The World Bank has made delays after expressing interest in financing the road safety project several times. If they don’t come Bangladesh will implement the project with its own funding," he said while inaugurating virtually nine bridges under Dhaka zone.
Read: Quader trashes Fakhrul’s vaccine corruption allegation
Bangladesh needs to invest an about US dollar7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities, according a new World Bank report.
Quader also expressed hope that the Padma Bridge, Metro Rail, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel and BRT projects would be opened to traffic next year.
He instructed the authorities concerned to expedite the work on roads and bridges across the country and make up the delays caused by Covid pandemic.
Quader said a revolutionary change will take place in the communication sector across the country after the under-construction projects are completed.
Read: Metro rail services to be opened in December,2022: Quader
Turning to current politics the Awami League general secretary said the next general election will be held on time following the constitution.
Quader made it clear that elections will be held in Bangladesh in the same way as in other democracies of the world.
Stating that there will be no bias in the election, the AL leader further said that the next election will be free and fair supervised by a neutral election commission.
Covid-19: Global cases near 216 million
The global Covid-19 caseload is fast nearing 216 million as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to devastate several countries.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 215,926,290 and 4,493, 941 respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 5,167,787,650 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.
Read: How Long Will Your COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccination Protection Last?
The US has logged 38,756,333 cases and 637,241 deaths to date, according to the JHU data.
The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
The country has recorded 20,728,605 cases with 579,010 fatalities so far, according to the health ministry.
The third worst-hit country, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 32,649, 947 on Saturday while the death toll from the virus mounted to 437,370.
Situation in Bangladesh
The single-day Covid death toll in Bangladesh fell below 100 for the first time in more than two months with 80 more people perishing in the last 24 hours till Saturday morning.
Read: Covid fatalities shrink below 100 after 2 months
During the same period 3,436 people tested positive for the deadly virus, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
The country reported 77 Covid fatalities on June 26 and the highest 264 on August 5 and 10. The highest number of infections was logged at 16,230 infections on July 28.
Since the start of the Covid pandemic in March last year, Bangladesh has recorded 14,89,589 infections and 25,926 deaths, according to the DGHS.
40 ambulances arrive in Bangladesh
Forty more ambulances -- a gift from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- arrived in Bangladesh through the Benapole land port on Thursday morning.
Additional Commissioner of Benapole Customs House, Neyamul Islam said that the 40 ambulances entered Bangladesh in the morning from the Petrapole border on the Indian side.
Read: India sends 40 more ambulances to Bangladesh
"Necessary paperwork is underway to get the clearance done. Once complete, the ambulances will leave for Dhaka later in the day," he said.
According to the Indian High Commission, Prime Minister Modi announced the gift of 109 ambulances to Bangladesh during his state visit on March 26-27, to help bolster healthcare, especially in the shared effort to contain the Covid pandemic.
All the ambulances have ventilation support, said sources.
Read: 30 ambulances arrive in Bangladesh from India
So far, 71 ambulances have arrived in Bangladesh and the remaining are expected to come by mid-September.
Of these, the first ambulance arrived on March 21, 30 more ambulances arrived on August 7, and 40 on Thursday.
Global Covid cases approaching 207 mln as concerns mount over Delta variant
The global Covid-19 caseload is now nearing the grim milestone of 207 million, as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to devastate several countries even though mass vaccination drives are underway.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stood at 206,662,675 and 4,353,058 respectively, as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 4,645,965, 832 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 178 more deaths, 6,885 new cases
The US has logged 36,631,893 cases and 621,209 deaths to date, according to the JHU data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Brazil currently has the world's second-highest pandemic death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
The South American Country has reported 20,350,142 cases with 568,788 fatalities as of Sunday morning.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 32,156,493 on Saturday as 38,667 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Read: US okays Covid booster dose for those with weak immune systems
Besides, as many as 478 deaths due to the pandemic since Friday morning took the total death toll to 430,732.
Situation in Bangladesh
With Covid-19 vaccine jabs still remaining off the peak in Bangladesh, the country reported 178 more coronavirus-related deaths and 6,885 fresh infections in 24 hours till Saturday Morning.
The fresh numbers took the country’s death tally to 23,988 while the total cases mounted to 1,412,218, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new infections were detected after testing 33,330 samples, bringing down the case positivity rate slightly to 20.66% from Friday’s 20.88%.
Read: Photos showing how hospitals in Bangladesh struggling with dengue patients amid covid surge
Since the beginning of the vaccination programme, as many as 5,428,345 people have been fully vaccinated with Covid jabs while the government completed administering the first dose to 15,461,583 people, said the DGHS.
People in Bangladesh are now showing more interest in receiving Covid-19 vaccine shots as 31,828,492 have registered for the vaccination so far.
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death; and with the Delta variant; this is more urgent than ever, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Govt's crucial support helped RMG industry make a turnaround: BGMEA chief
President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Faruque Hassan has thanked the government for providing crucial support to the RMG industry during the difficult time of Covid pandemic that helped the sector "survive and make a turnaround".
He also thanked the government for bringing garment workers under the Covid-19 vaccination programme on a priority basis.
Read:Netflix Movie: BGMEA protests derogatory remarks on Bangladesh RMG sector
Faruque Hassan had a meeting with State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian at the Secretariat on Wednesday and discussed the overall situation of the ready-made garment industry, the BGMEA said on Thursday.
Hassan apprised the state minister of the current state of the industry which is putting in all-out efforts to recover from the pandemic impacts and move ahead.
Read: No alternative to mass vaccination of apparel workers: BGMEA
“We requested the government to vaccinate garment workers on a priority basis as there is no alternative to mass vaccination of the workers to keep factories running," said the BGMEA president, adding that all the garment workers are being brought under the vaccine coverage.
BGMEA Senior Vice President SM Mannan (Kochi) was also present at the meeting.
Govt feels self-complacency working for only some people: Sultana Kamal
Noted human right activist advocate Sultana Kamal on Sunday criticised the current budget for ‘not having clear support plan’ for the disadvantaged community in this Covid pandemic, saying that the government feels self-complacency protecting the interest of some people.
“I would like to share my analysis that isolation has occurred between the government and the common people, which we’ve seen more acutely in this Covid situation,” she said at a media briefing.
Citizen's Platform for SDGs Bangladesh arranged the media briefing over “Implementation of National Budget 2021-22: What benefit will the disadvantaged people get?” through a virtual platform.
Sultana Kamal, also a member of the Citizen’s Platform, said, “Though we say that we are living in a democratic society….. But we have many words (questions) over the election, which is the first and foremost step for democracy.”
Also read: Country makes tremendous development in corruption: Sultana Kamal
“Questions can also be raised over how much we think those who govern the State as our men or how much they (Govt) think us as their men,” she said.
If the budget is evaluated from this perspective, there is isolation between the government and the common people or community particularly the disadvantaged people, she said adding that the government may have relations of interest with the people who are surrounding it or who assist it politically and socially or any other ways.
“We’re in such a political system that if those of us who are in charge of governing the State can protect the interests of some people, they feel self-complacency. They get praises from them (the particular section of people) and can understand that what they (government) did is a very wonderful job,” said Sultana Kamal.
Noting that the national budget for 2020-21 had to be adopted last year amid unknown and sudden Covid-19 situation, she said this time the government got a full year before the preparation of the budget, but the new problems caused by the pandemic were not recognised there.
Also read: ‘Indigenous leaders removed from decision-making in CHT’: Sultana Kamal
She said it is as usual budget having nothing for the recovery from the Covid-19 fallout. “Some ad-hoc based steps were taken and works have been done, but the steps, which are very essential to rebound from this distress, unfortunately remain missing here,” she said.
“Some 3-3.5 crore people have become poor afresh. We’ve not find any clear plan to pay attention to them in the budget,” said Sultana Kamal, also the Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra.
Convenor of Citizen’s Platform Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said the government should provide direct food and cash support for the disadvantaged people as they may be awaiting tougher situations in the current fiscal year than the last fiscal.
“We fear that the disadvantaged community may be more distressed in 2021-22. Because, we fear that the pressure would increase on them further for the current pandemic situation,” he said.
Alongside providing free foods, the government also needs to expand open market sale (OMS) of foods at subsidized prices up to grassroots level in order to keep food price stable as the food inflation has recently witnessed a big jump, said Dr Debapriya.
“If we don’t provide direct cash support to them, not only the community will become poorer or deprived, but also their next generation will face malnutrition, physical and mental disabilities. It will emerge as a big national problem in future,” he said, adding that some 80 per cent people cut down their food expenses according to a recent survey.
Noting that the government stimulus packages, he said though the government has so far taken 30 Covid-related support interventions (including five new ones) amounting to Tk 128,194 crore, there is a very low share of fiscal and food support compared to hybrid ones (subsidized and interest based stimuli).
He said there are 13 fiscal and 4 food support interventions accounting for less than 20.5 per cent of the total allocation, while hybrid amounting to nearly 79.53 per cent.
Besides, nearly 39 per cent of fiscal stimulus packages were disbursed, while over 75 per cent of hybrid stimulus packages were disbursed within June 2021, he noted.
Dr Debapriya said the targeted GDP growth rate for 2020-21 fiscal was revised down from 8.2 per cent to 5.2 per cent, but the final figures would obviously be lower.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a member of the Citizen’s Platform said it is essential to strengthen direct cash transfer and OMS programmes in the current fiscal year just not considering the present food inflation rate.
“Rice prices witnessed over 20 per cent hike last year. If I say now that the inflation rate is 4-5 per cent, it will not give us a real picture,” he said, adding that the marginalized people are facing trouble to purchase food due to lower income and food price hike.
Besides, members of the Citizen’s Platform Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Shaheen Anam, Rasheda K Choudhury, Asif Ibrahim and Dr Mustaque Reza Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion.
Global Covid cases top 185 million
The second wave of the Covid pandemic continues its onslaught across the world amid speeding inoculation efforts. In fact, the global corona caseload has now topped 185 million.
The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 185,489,255 and 4,009,084, respectively, as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
So far, 3,351,337,474 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data.
Also read: As global COVID-19 deaths top 4 million, a suicide in Peru
The US has logged 33,790, 114 cases and 606,468 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world.
Brazil registered 1,733 more deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, bringing the national death tally to 530,344, the health ministry said Thursday.
A total of 53,749 new infections were detected during the period, raising the total caseload to 18,962,786, the ministry said.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,743,013 on Thursday as 34,443 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry.
Also read: India’s Bharat Biotech says vaccine 93.4% effective against severe COVID-19
Besides, 470 deaths due to the pandemic since Wednesday morning pushed up the total death toll to 405,527.
Covid-19 was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019, but the outbreak spread quickly across the globe in the first two-three months of 2020.
It was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020.
Situation in Bangladesh
As coronavirus is spreading in Bangladesh faster than ever, the country logged record-high 11,651 cases and 199 deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning.
The grim number of cases came after the test of 36,850 samples during the period, which puts the country’s case positivity rate at 31.62%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15,792, while the caseload stood at 989,219.
Just a day before, the country counted the highest-ever 201 deaths from Covid-19, and record-high 11,525 cases on Tuesday.
Also read: Dhaka reemerging as Covid hotspot as battle plan ‘fails’: Experts
The country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.60% till Wednesday, said the DGHS.
So far, 856, 346 people have recovered from Covid, putting the recovery rate at 86.57%, which is declining unlike other indicators.