Project to strengthen BBS getting pace

The government is working on improving the capacity of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) to produce and publish quality statistics on time as well as speeding up its activities through digitisation.

An ongoing project in this regard will also enhance the BBS coverage as well as improve the collection and quality of data to produce core statistics on national accounts, labour and industry, and agriculture among other subjects. 

The Statistics and Informatics Division has undertaken the project titled “National Strategy for the Development of Statistics Implementation Support”.

Manpower shortages, a lack of coordination, mismanagement, old methodology, and unskilled workforce are the main reasons why the BBS fails to publish reports in due time, said State Minister for Planning Prof Shamsul Alam.    

Because of the shortcomings, the BBS usually fails to publish provisional and final gross domestic product (GDP) forecasts on time every year.

Global lenders, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, forecast Bangladesh’s GDP growth based on the BBS report.

Apart from GDP, the BBS forecasts inflation and investment, which help people understand the health of the economy. It also carries out population census.

Shamsul said the project would increase the overall capacity of the BBS to produce quality statistics maintaining international standards.

The government is providing the BBS with all kinds of support to publish accurate and reliable reports on time, he added. 

Several BBS officials told The Business Post manpower shortages and vacant posts in district offices are the main reasons behind the delay in publishing data and reports on time.

Another reason is that officials, such as data collectors, enumerators, and researchers, in districts do not have proper training, they said.

A BBS official said the agency had recently published a circular to appoint 712 people in different posts to speed up its activities.

He said the agency would fill the vacant posts in its district offices.

Under the project, BBS will sign memoranda of understanding with different ministries and divisions to receive data and information from them regularly.

It will also formulate a comprehensive ICT plan to publish reports on time through quick data collection, synchronisation, and processing and analysing information.

As part of the project, 500 officials will receive training locally, and 150 abroad, to improve their skills in order to develop BBS information management.

The estimated cost of the project is Tk 134 crore. Of this, the World Bank will provide Tk 120 crore and Tk 14 crore will come from the government exchequer.

The BBS started implementing the project in March 2018, which will be completed in June 2023.

The project was initially supposed to be completed by February 2022, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed implementation.   

It will also help implement the National Strategy for the Development of Statistics and Statistics Act.