Economy
Economy faces challeges of revenue shortfall and defaulting bank loans: Document
Revenue deficit defaulting bank loans and worsening poverty situation due to COVID-19 are causing some problems in the country’s economy.
According to a budgetary document, revenue deficit and increasing unrealised loans in banking sector are hurtimg the economy.
It also stated that poverty situation is also a matter of future concern .
The target of revenue collection for the running fiscal has been set at Tk 330,078 crore.
Read Govt to provide seamless automated services to taxpayers to boost revenue, says official document
VAT wing will contribute the lion share with Tk 127,745 crore and target for Income Tax and Tax on Profit has been set at Tk 104, 952 crore.
The revenue collection from import duty will be Tk 37, 907 crore, Tk 54,465 crore from from Supplementary Duty, Tk 56 crore from export duty, Tk 3825 crore from Excise Duty while Tk 1050 crore from other taxes and duties.
In the last fiscal (2020-21) the revised revenue target was Tk 301,000 crore while it was set Tk 330,000 in the main budget.
Also read: ‘Bangladesh economy shows signs of positive growth’ despite global recession
But the NBR could not attain the revised target mainly due to the ongoing pandemic that forced the government to impose various types of lockdown that hampered the economy a lot.
According to the available data the revenue collection in 2020-21 fiscal was Tk 41,000 crore less than the revised target while Tk 70,000 from the original target.
The collection was Tk 259,900 crore although the growth was 19 percent.
According to data, the tax to GDP ratio of the country has been 9.9 percent on an average since 2015-2019, while it is 19.8 percent for India, 23.9 percent for Nepal, 14.7 percent for Pakistan, 13.5 percent for Sri Lanka.
Read NBR directs big push to reach the revenue target for current fiscal
The ratio is 25.6% for developing countries and 35.9% for developed countries, according to the data.
The tax-to-GDP ratio is a ratio of a nation's tax revenue relative to its gross domestic product, the value of goods and services produced in a country during a certain period. The ratio is also a marker of how well the government controls a country's economic resources.
The document mentioned that due to increasing revenue deficit it is becoming tougher day by day for very necessary public expenditure financing in various sectors like infrastructure, health, education, water resources and social safety net.
It also said that in the banking sector especially in the public banks high rate of unrealised loans is creating pressure on eonomical situation of damaged banks and causing hurdles to collect deposit.
Read BUILD frets over budget deficit amid revenue collection struggles
On January 25, 2021 Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in Parliament said that there are more that 300,000 loan defaulters in various banks and financial institutions across Bangladesh.
As of October 2020, there were 334,982 loan defaulters across the country.
However, the amount of non-performing loans (NPLs) has gone down by Tk 17,737 crore.
As of September 2020, the amount outstanding loans stand at Tk 94,440.47 crore, per Bangladesh Bank data, the minister mentioned.
Also read: Coronavirus: Experts for prudent economic recovery plan for Bangladesh
India Wants to Grow Tiger Population by 35% to Protect Forests, Boost Economy
Among Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s myriad options to help revive his economy from a rare contraction brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, “Project Tiger” is definitely among the most unlikely.
According to Bloomberg, the country intends to grow the wild tiger population by 35% to as many as 4,000 in the next decade, which would protect forests while also boosting economic gains from conservation, according to a top official overseeing the nation’s tiger program.
“Tiger reserves are bringing benefits for society, environment and the economy,” S.P. Yadav, additional director general of Project Tiger, a government-run program for conservation of the species, said in an interview at his New Delhi office. “Economic benefits will increase going forward.”
Read:Tiger population growing in the Sundarbans: PM
Modi, who in 2019 joined British adventurer Bear Grylls on a television show to create awareness about environmental conservation and climate change, has doubled funding for the tiger conservation, which started in 1973. In addition to the economic boost, it’s a tiny part of a broader commitment to care for the country’s environment.
Every tiger successfully protected helps conserve around 25,000 acres (10,117 hectares) of forest, according to estimates from the World Wildlife Fund. For India, which is now home to about 2,967 wild tigers, that means expanding its forest cover by more than 10 million hectares to over 81 million hectares, and adding more tiger reserves to its current total of 51.
As well, one rupee invested in tiger reserves provides 243- to 7,488-times worth of benefits to the country in a year, said Madhu Verma, New Delhi-based chief economist at the World Resources Institute. A study authored by her in 2019 showed monetary value of direct and indirect benefits from 10 tiger reserves ranged from 51 billion rupees ($687 million) to 162 billion rupees in a year.
As the endangered big cats are at the top of the food chain, their conservation is possible only when their entire ecosystem is protected. As well, benefits flow to the population around the reserves as tourism increases and local communities get jobs.
Read:Poacher 'Tiger Habib' held after 20 yrs on the run
“If conservation efforts increase economic benefits would go up,” said Verma. “Investment in reserves will have a whopping impact.”
India now spends about 2.5 billion rupees on tiger conservation efforts every year. Although it’s a fraction of the 35 trillion rupee federal budget, the amount is substantial considering the nation only spent about 11 billion rupees on tigers in total during the four decades prior to 2012.
That spending has so far helped double the country’s wild tiger population from 1,411 in 2006.
India has been using smart technology, including artificial intelligence and drones for patrolling and recording the status of tigers. These tools have helped it reduce poaching, but challenges remain.
Read: Two ‘poachers’ killed in tiger attack in Sundarbans
More than 300 tiger deaths have been reported in last three years, and about a third of these are due to poaching, seizure or accidents. India’s tiger reserves on just about a quarter of the world tiger habitat are also threatened by conflicts with humans, including rise in killing of livestock and people, inadequacy of trained forest staff, as well as development of infrastructure such as roads and hydropower projects.
Tiger-human conflicts need attention and the government is studying how many tigers can be accommodated so that there are substantial benefits to communities, Yadav said, pointing out the significance of wild cats for human health and green infrastructure.
“For water security you need to preserve tigers,” said Yadav. “Several sweet water streams originate in tiger reserves. These are the factories of producing clean water and air for the country.”
Taliban suppress more dissent as economic challenges loom
The Taliban violently dispersed scattered protests for a second day Thursday amid warnings that Afghanistan’s already weakened economy could crumble further without the massive international aid that sustained the toppled Western-backed government.
The Taliban have sought to project moderation and say they want good relations with the international community, but they will face a difficult balancing act in making concessions to the West, satisfying their own hard-line followers and suppressing dissent.
A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages, and experts said the country was severely in need of cash, while noting that the Taliban are unlikely to enjoy the generous international aid that made up most of the ousted government’s budget.
The Taliban have pledged to forgive those who fought them and to restore security and normal life to the country after decades of war. But many Afghans fear a return to the Taliban’s harsh rule in the late 1990s, when the group largely confined women to their homes, banned television and music, chopped off the hands of suspected thieves and held public executions.
Read: US struggles to speed Kabul airlift despite Taliban, chaos
On Thursday, a procession of cars and people near Kabul’s airport carried long black, red and green banners in honor of the Afghan flag — a banner that is becoming a symbol of defiance. Video from another protest in Nangarhar province showed a bleeding demonstrator with a gunshot wound. Onlookers tried to carry him away.
In Khost province, Taliban authorities instituted a 24-hour curfew Thursday after violently breaking up another protest, according to information obtained by journalists monitoring from abroad. The authorities did not immediately acknowledge the demonstration or the curfew.
Protesters also took to the streets in Kunar province, according to witnesses and social media videos that lined up with reporting by The Associated Press.
The demonstrations — which came as people celebrated Afghan Independence Day and some commemorated the Shiite Ashoura festival — were a remarkable show of defiance after Taliban fighters violently dispersed a protest Wednesday. At least one person was killed at that rally, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, after demonstrators lowered the Taliban’s flag and replaced it with the tricolor.
Meanwhile, opposition figures gathering in the last area of the country not under Taliban rule talked of launching an armed resistance under the banner of the Northern Alliance, which joined with the U.S. during the 2001 invasion.
It was not clear how serious a threat they posed given that Taliban fighters overran nearly the entire country in a matter of days with little resistance from Afghan forces.
The Taliban so far have offered no specifics on how they will lead, other than to say they will be guided by Shariah, or Islamic, law. They are in talks with senior officials of previous Afghan governments. But they face an increasingly precarious situation.
“A humanitarian crisis of incredible proportions is unfolding before our eyes,” warned Mary Ellen McGroarty, the head of the U.N.’s World Food Program in Afghanistan.
Beyond the difficulties of bringing food into the landlocked nation dependent on imports, she said that over 40% of the country’s crop has been lost to drought. Many who fled the Taliban advance now live in parks and open spaces in Kabul.
“This is really Afghanistan’s hour of greatest need, and we urge the international community to stand by the Afghan people at this time,” she said.
Hafiz Ahmad, a shopkeeper in Kabul, said some food has flowed into the capital, but prices have gone up. He hesitated to pass those costs onto his customers but said he had to.
Read: Afghans protest Taliban in emerging challenge to their rule
“It is better to have it,” he said. “If there were nothing, then that would be even worse.”
Two of Afghanistan’s key border crossings with Pakistan are now open for trade. However, traders still fear insecurity on the roads and confusion over customs duties that could push them to price their goods higher.
Amid all the uncertainty and fears of Taliban rule, thousands of Afghans are fleeing the country.
At Kabul’s international airport, military evacuation flights continued, but access to the airport remained difficult. On Thursday, Taliban fighters fired into the air to try to control the crowds gathered at the airport’s blast walls.
After a chaotic start in which people rushed the runway and some clung to a plane taking off, the U.S. military is ramping up evacuations and now has enough aircraft to get 5,000 to 9,000 people out a day, Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor said Thursday.
President Joe Biden said he was committed to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal.
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Biden said he thought the Taliban were going through an “existential crisis” about whether they wanted to be internationally recognized as a legitimate government. “I’m not sure they do,” he said.
The Taliban have urged people to return to work, but most government officials remain in hiding or are themselves attempting to flee. The U.S. has apparently frozen Afghanistan’s foreign reserves and shipments of dollars that help sustain the local currency, the afghani. The International Monetary Fund has cut off access to loans or other resources for now.
“The afghani has been defended by literally planeloads of U.S. dollars landing in Kabul on a very regular basis, sometimes weekly,” said Graeme Smith, a consultant researcher with the Overseas Development Institute. “If the Taliban don’t get cash infusions soon to defend the afghani, I think there’s a real risk of a currency devaluation that makes it hard to buy bread on the streets of Kabul for ordinary people.”
Smith, who has written a book on Afghanistan, said the Taliban are unlikely to ask for the same billions in international aid sought by the country’s fallen civilian government — large portions of which were siphoned off by corruption.
The Taliban have long profited off the drug trade in Afghanistan, which is the world’s top cultivator of the poppy from which opium and heroin are produced. The militants now have access to customs duties from the border crossings, which were the main source of domestic income for the previous government.
Read: Taliban militants violently disperse rare Afghan protest
But 75% of the previous government’s budget was covered by donor countries.
“It costs a lot less to run an insurgency than it does to run a government,” said Laurel Miller, director of the Asia program at the Crisis Group, an international think tank. “The opium trade and the border crossings (are) not enough money to run a government, at least as it has been run in recent years.”
The Taliban will struggle to make accommodations to the West while satisfying the ultraconservative Muslim fighters that brought them to power after a 20-year insurgency, with the latter likely being the priority, Miller said. Even a significant shift toward moderation might not be enough for Western countries to keep the aid flowing.
“How ready is Congress going to be to vote for development assistance for a Taliban government?” she said.
Post-pandemic economy: Bangladesh’s blueprint for reviving investment atmosphere
With the pandemic hitting hard the economy as an external shock, the government gives an immense importance to investments, both local and foreign ones, for ensuring a balanced development and improving business environment in the country.
“The government will take effective steps to build infrastructures and provide other policy supports to improve the investment-friendly environment,” says an official document obtained by UNB.
To increase investments and create jobs, it says, steps have been taken to establish 100 Economic Zones across the country, which will provide employment opportunities for nearly one crore people. Approval has already been given for the establishment of 97 Economic Zones.
Read Bangladesh’s economic progress continues despite pandemic: Minister
The document says production has already begun in nine economic zones and the development work on 28 economic zones is under way, creating jobs for around 40,000 people. “Employment opportunities will be created for another 8 lakh people,” it says.
As of now, investment proposals, worth US$ 27.07 billion, from 210 investors have been submitted for these economic zones. “Of the total amount, about US$ 1.60 billion is foreign investment.”
The largest Economic Zone in the public sector 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Industrial City' is being developed in Mirsarai, Sonagazi and Sitakunda upazilas on 30,000 acres of land as a modern industrial zone.
Also read: Coronavirus: Experts for prudent economic recovery plan for Bangladesh
To woo investors, seminars, workshops, roadshows and tradeshows are being organised and sponsored both at home and abroad.
Through these arrangements, as per the document, Bangladesh can identify new investors, which will help augment the investment.
More importantly, the document says, the government is laying special emphasis on the implementation of projects under Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to attract investment required for the implementation of the government's development plans.
Also read: ‘Bangladesh economy shows signs of positive growth’ despite global recession
At present, as many as 76 projects are scheduled to be implemented under the PPP, against which the investment worth US$ 27.76 billion has been mobilised.
One project under PPP has already been implemented and six more projects are under implementation.
Plans afoot to transform Bangladesh’s economy in view of LDC graduation
The government has taken structural transformation of the economy as a priority agenda for the coming days to maintain its position among the developing countries and become a higher middle-income country by 2031 defying all the hurdles of the post-LDC era.
"We, therefore, need to accelerate this structural transformation of the economy," the government said in an official budget document.
To this end, the government will provide necessary financial assistance for the implementation of some activities.
Read Next 2 weeks crucial to ensure TRIPS waiver for pharma beyond LDC graduation
These are-- mechanisation of agriculture, development of the agro- processing sector, skill development and productivity enhancement, and expansion of training and education related to 4th Industrial Revolution.
The government will also provide necessary financial assistance for encouragement of online based outsourcing work, self- employment/creation of new entrepreneurs, and encouragement of basic and practical research at the university level.
It said that the country has been gradually moving from an agro-based economy to a manufacturing-based economy following the pursuit of effective government policies and strategies during the last 12 years.
Also read: World Bank prediction on Bangladesh economy inconsistent: Finance Minister
Therefore, the document said, the contribution of agriculture to the GDP has been gradually declining and the desired structural transformation is taking place in the economy.
It mentioned that Bangladesh has already qualified for graduation from a least developed country to a developing country.
"To maintain its position among the developing countries and become a higher middle income country by 2031, we need a strong industrial and manufacturing sector, which will help sustain high economic growth."
Also read: WB projects 1.6 pc GDP growth for Bangladesh in 2020-21
According to the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) recommendation, Bangladesh's transition will be effective in 2026. It means until 2026, Bangladesh will be able to enjoy all the benefits applicable to LDCs.
Inflation slightly falls in July amid pandemic
The inflation rate slightly declined by 0.28 percent on a point-point basis as it came down at 5.36 percentage point in July 2021.
“The general point-to-point inflation rate came down to 5.36 percentage points at the end of July from 5.64 percentage points in June,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan on Tuesday.
The minister disclosed it while briefing reporters after the weekly Ecnec meeting.
Also read: CPD finds 5.3 per cent inflation rate unrealistic as living cost goes up
This time both the food and non-food inflation rates came down simultaneously. “The food inflation rate declined by 0.37 percent, while the non-food inflation rate decreased by 0.14 percent,” he said.
The food inflation rate stood at 5.08 percent in July 2021, coming down from 5.45 percent in the previous month, while the non-food inflation rate was 5.80 percent last month, falling from 5.94 percent in June 2021, according to the BBS data provided to the journalists.
Also read: Inflation declines to 5.26 in May
In rural areas, the general inflation rate declined to 5.53 percent in July from 5.84 percent of the previous month.
But the inflation rate was 5.06 percent in urban areas last month, coming down from 5.29 percent in June 2021.
Biden woos working class with new ‘buy American’ efforts
President Joe Biden checked out the big rigs at a Pennsylvania truck factory on Wednesday and promised workers that his policies would reshape the U.S economy for the working class — a message clearly aimed at a group of voters who have drifted to Republicans.
Biden highlighted new “buy American” rules from his administration that he said would put a new muscle behind an initiative that he argued had become a “hollow promise” in recent years.
“They got a new sheriff in town,” Biden said after touring Mack Truck’s Lehigh Valley operations facility. He said the effort would help create jobs, a central thrust of his administration’s “build back better” program.
Administration officials, who have made manufacturing jobs a priority, believe Democrats’ political prospects next year might hinge on whether Biden succeeds in reinvigorating a sector that has steadily lost jobs for more than four decades.
Read:Russia and China vexing Biden
Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump each said his policies would save manufacturing jobs, yet none of them broke the long-term trend in a lasting way.
The administration is championing a $973 billion infrastructure package, $52 billion for computer chip production, sweeping investments in clean energy and the use of government procurement contracts to create factory jobs.
On the visit, Biden heard about Mack’s electric garbage trucks.
“The ability to build and sell these new trucks would be helped by the president’s proposed investment in buy American production incentives for domestic electric vehicle manufacturing,” said White House deputy press secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre.
The plant was neatly organized, with the thousands of truck parts organized in aisles and the hulls of half-finished trucks awaiting the president’s inspection. The plant was silent other than the whir of fans. Work was halted as part of a two-week hiatus during which Biden visited.
The president won Lehigh County in the 2020 election, but he is facing the perpetual challenge of past administrations to revive a manufacturing sector at the heart of American identity. Failure to bring back manufacturing jobs could further hurt already ailing factory towns across the country and possibly imperil Democrats’ chances in the 2022 midterm elections.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Biden should siphon off unspent money from his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package to cover the investments in infrastructure, instead of relying on tax increases and other revenue-raisers to do so.
Read: Biden says US combat mission in Iraq to conclude by year end
“Hopefully, he will use his visit to learn about the real, physical infrastructure needs of Pennsylvanians — and the huge sums of unused ‘COVID’ funds which should pay for that infrastructure,” Toomey said in a statement.
Layoffs of white factory workers led communities to vote for Republican challengers and turn against Democratic incumbents, according to a 2021 research paper by McGill University’s Leonardo Baccini and Georgetown University’s Stephen Weymouth. They found a connection between deindustrialization and greater racial division as white voters interpreted the layoffs as a loss of social status.
Areas with more factory layoffs also became more pessimistic about the entire economy. The trends documented in the research were most pronounced in 2016, when Donald Trump won the White House while emphasizing blue-collar identity and racial differences.
One challenge for Democrats is that they’re not being forced to deal with the most recent manufacturing job losses, but layoffs that began decades ago.
“Biden would benefit from an improved manufacturing jobs outlook,” Weymouth said. “But a lot of economists think that many of these jobs are gone for good. And so, it’s an uphill battle. There’s alternatives: The president can pursue a more substantial social safety net for people who lose their jobs or investments in these communities that declined for decades.”
The Biden administration is trying to help domestic manufacturers by proposing to increase the amount of American-made goods being purchased by the federal government.
The administration is proposing that any products bought by the government must have 60% of the value of their component parts manufactured in the United States. The proposal would gradually increase that figure to 75% by 2029, significantly higher than the 55% threshold under current law.
Read: Biden stumps for McAuliffe in early test of political clout
Manufacturing has improved since the depths of more than a year ago during the coronavirus pandemic-induced recession. Labor Department data show that factories have regained about two-thirds of the 1.4 million manufacturing jobs lost because of the outbreak. Factory output as tracked by the Federal Reserve is just below its pre-pandemic levels.
But the manufacturing sector — especially autos — is facing serious challenges.
Automakers are limited by a global shortage of computer chips. Without the chips that are needed for a modern vehicle, the production of cars and trucks has dropped from an annual pace of 10.79 million at the end of last year to 8.91 million in June, a decline of nearly 18% as measured by the Fed. Analysts at IHS Market estimate that the supply of semiconductors will only stabilize and recover in the second half of 2022, right as the midterm races become more intense.
For the past several decades, presidents have pledged to bring back factory jobs without much success. Manufacturing employment peaked in 1979 at nearly 19.6 million jobs, only to slide downward with steep declines after the 2001 recession and the 2007-09 Great Recession. The figure now stands at 12.3 million.
ADB lowers its economic growth forecast for developing Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has marginally lowered its economic growth forecast for developing Asia this year amid the second wave of the pandemic.
It projects a 7.2 percent economic growth for developing Asia this year compared with its 7.3 percent forecast in April, as renewed Covid outbreaks tend to slow the recovery in some economies of the region.
Read: ADB praises Hasina's leadership in Covid fight
However, the growth outlook for 2022 is upgraded to 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent, according to a release from the Bank.
Excluding the newly industrialised economies of Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taipei,developing Asia’s updated growth outlook is 7.5 percent for 2021 and 5.7 percent for 2022, compared with the earlier projections of 7.7 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.
The supplement to ADB’s flagship economic publication, Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021, provides updated projections for the region’s economies and inflation levels amid the pandemic.
“Asia and the Pacific’s recovery from the pandemic continues, although the path remains precarious amid renewed outbreaks, new virus variants, and an uneven vaccine rollout,” said ADB Chief Economist Yasuyuki Sawada.
“On top of containment and vaccination measures, phased and strategic rejuvenation of economic activities -- for instance, trade, manufacturing, and tourism--- will be key to ensure that the recovery is green, inclusive, and resilient.”
The Covid pandemic remains the biggest risk to the outlook, as outbreaks continue in many economies.
Read: ADB triples COVID-19 response package to $20bn
Daily confirmed cases in the region peaked at about 434,000 in mid-May.
They narrowed to about 109,000 at the end of June, concentrated mainly in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout in the region is gaining pace, with 41.6 doses administered per 100 people by the end of June -- above the global average of 39.2, but below rates of 97.6 in the United States and 81.8 in the European Union.
East Asia’s growth outlook for 2021 is raised to 7.5 percent, from 7.4 percent in April, amid a stronger-than-expected recovery by the newly industrialised economies of Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Taipei.
The subregional growth forecast for 2022 is retained at 5.1 percent. The growth outlook for China is likewise maintained at 8.1 percent this year and 5.5 percent in 2022, amid steady performances by industry, exports, and services.
This year’s growth outlook for Central Asia has been raised to 3.6 percent, from 3.4 percent, in the April forecast.
This is mainly due to an improved outlook for Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan -- the subregion’s largest economy. Central Asia’s outlook for 2022 remains at 4.0 percent.
Projections for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific for 2021 are lowered as renewed outbreaks are met with containment measures and restrictions, hampering economic activity.
South Asia’s growth outlook for fiscal year 2021 is lowered to 8.9 percent from 9.5 percent. The forecast for India is downgraded by 1.0 percentage points to 10.0 percent.
Southeast Asia’s 2021 outlook is revised to 4.0 percent from 4.4 percent, while the projection for Pacific economies is lowered to 0.3 percent from 1.4 percent. However, the 2022 growth forecasts for these subregions are upgraded to 7.0 percent, 5.2 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively.
The inflation forecast for Asia and the Pacific this year is raised to 2.4 percent, from 2.3% in April, reflecting rising oil and commodity prices. The projection for 2022 remains at 2.7 percent.
BGMEA wants end of RMG goods theft on highways
Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have requested the Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association to ensure that a GPS tracker is installed in all goods-laden cargo vans to stop stealing during transportation.
BGMEA leaders and Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association held a meeting in Dhaka Sunday to discuss ways to prevent readymade garment (RMG) export goods theft on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, Vice-President Md Shahidullah Azim; Executive President of Bangladesh Truck Covered Van Owners Association Syed Md Bakhtiar, General Secretary Rustom Ali Khan, among others, were present at the meeting.
Also read: BGMEA chief wants extension of Industrial Police zones
In the meeting, they stressed the need for increased vigilance of law enforcement agencies – including Highway Police, Rapid Action Battalion and district police – on the Dhaka-Chattagram highway and also on Mirpur-Dhowr road to prevent the theft of RMG export goods.
Vulnerable economies call on rich nations to avert global climate-Covid economic threat
Vulnerable economies on Thursday called upon the rich nations to avert global climate-Covid economic threat.
The 48 most vulnerable economies demand “2020-2024 delivery plan” for the missing $100 billion annual Paris Agreement climate assistance.
Led by Bangladesh as chair of the V20, the world’s most climate vulnerable economies met virtually as heads of state and government, ministers of finance and economy, together with leaders of the United Nations, partner economies and the global financial system to address the compound, destabilizing effect of climate disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic on low- and middle-income economies.
The ‘Vulnerable Twenty’ (V20) Group of Finance Ministers released a Communique that called for leadership by industrialized nations and cooperation to urgently transform and align the global economic system with the goals of the Paris Climate treaty for a more robust, greener, and equitable recovery.
The first ‘Climate Vulnerables Finance Summit’ was opened by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She said every country must pursue an ambitious target to curb Greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperatures from rising to 1.5ºC.
"This target has been approved through a global consensus, but we have not observed any visible action”, said the Prime Minister adding that “I urge all, particularly the G20 nations to show their actions.”
She indicated that the tragedies faced by the most vulnerable will haunt the world economy if urgent action is not taken and the economic and financial support needs of the V20 are not met, stating that “Developed nations need to articulate a concrete delivery plan on how the shortfall of annual climate finance will be met between 2020 and 2024.
They should facilitate the green recovery of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF)-V20 by providing monetary assistance, transferring technology, and building capacity.