Home ›› 21 Oct 2022 ›› Front
A food crisis has been projected in many countries, including Bangladesh, and the government has to be frugal as well as continue spending in the productive sector to deal with it, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Thursday.
It said this at a conference where it published a report titled “Slowdown in Global Economy and Challenges for Bangladesh: How to Tackle?”. The conference was held at its office in the capital.
Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the CPD, said Bangladesh’s economic crisis started due to global causes but it is being observed more as a result of internal weaknesses. She said the government considers the crisis to be short-term but it should not.
“The current global projections say Bangladesh may be headed for a famine. If expenditures can be reduced and productivity can be increased, the crisis can be managed. Institutional reforms, elimination of corruption, and increasing efficiency are the ways for that,” said Fahmida.
Although there is a fear of food shortage, the CPD pointed out that the government has 1.6 million tonnes of food in stock.
However, the government has continued food aid to support the poor and the stock may fall, said the CPD, advising to import food before a global food crisis begins.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the CPD, said Bangladesh may face two types of crises.
“One, we may not have the necessary dollars to import food. So the government has to decide where and how to spend the dollars.
“On the other hand, if a global food crisis starts, politics around food will start. So it should be imported earlier,” he added.
Gas exploration to tackle energy crisis
The CPD has recommended increasing power generation by reducing the ongoing load-shedding. It said this will keep production in agriculture, industry, and service sectors on and the government will be able to tackle the crisis.
To increase power generation, the capacity charge policy should be withdrawn and gas exploration should be started, it said.
“The government may get money by raising electricity prices, but it cannot earn dollars this way. So it should move away from capacity charge-based power plants. There should be a ‘no electricity no pay’ policy,” Moazzem said.
Besides, the think tank said since the government has emphasised the production of renewable energy, such power plants should be put into operation during the ongoing crisis.
The power crisis cannot be considered a temporary one, it said.
Economic crisis may create political turmoil
If the government considers the ongoing economic crisis temporary and takes a go-slow policy, this will lead to an employment crisis, said Moazzem.
“This can later turn into a political crisis. The government should take that into consideration,” he said.
The CPD recommended the government form a national committee to mitigate the crisis nationally instead of making policy decisions based on ministries.
It said civil society representatives may participate in that committee and it may be effective in solving the crisis.
Dhaka dwellers’ monthly food cost Tk 22,421
The average monthly cost of a basket of 19 common food items with fish and meat, which indicates regular diets for a household of four persons, in Dhaka city rose from Tk 17,530 on January 1 in 2019 to Tk 22,421 on October 16 this year, a 27.9 per cent increase, the CPD said.
Excluding fish and meat, the monthly food cost for a four-member family in Dhaka city is currently Tk 9,059 (calculated on October 16), which was Tk 6,541 in January 2019, a 38.49 per cent increase in over three years, the CPD also said.
Fahmida said the low- and middle-income people of the country are facing problems due to the ongoing inflationary pressure.
She said the Minimum Wages Board should consider raising the minimum wages of workers in all sectors to ensure that they can buy at least the basic food items with the minimum earnings.
Beef, bread prices in Bangladesh highest in S Asia
The CPD report said the prices of beef and bread in Bangladesh have been the highest among South Asian countries for the last four years. The report mentioned the prices of beef and bread from 2019 to 2022.
It shows while the price of beef in Bangladesh is Tk 684 per kg at present, the same quantity is being sold for Tk 580 in India, Tk 545 in Sri Lanka, Tk 465 in Nepal, and Tk 375 in Pakistan.
In 2019, beef was sold at Tk 554 per kg in Bangladesh, Tk 509 per kg in Sri Lanka, Tk 453 per kg in India, Tk 448 per kg in Nepal, and Tk 329 per kg in Pakistan.
From 2019 to 2022, the price of beef in the global market ranged between Tk 350 and Tk 500, consistently less than the price in Bangladesh.
A similar situation can be seen in bread prices. Half a kilogram of bread has cost Tk 62 in Bangladesh this year, compared to Tk 45 in Pakistan, Tk 48 in India and Nepal, and Tk 50 in Sri Lanka.
In 2019, the price of the same quantity of bread was Tk 59 in Bangladesh, Tk 37 in Pakistan, Tk 40 in India, Tk 50 in Nepal, and Tk 39 in Sri Lanka. It shows the price declined in other countries, except for Nepal, but it went up in Bangladesh.
The CPD report said the price of bread has gone up in Bangladesh due to the increase in flour prices caused by the disruptions to Bangladesh’s wheat
