Home ›› 30 Jan 2022 ›› News
Planning Minister MA Mannan has said there are sometimes delays in implementing the government’s stimulus packages and allocations for marginal groups due to a lack of authentic data.
“We need to upgrade the household database accurately so that the government can make quick decisions on implementing any programme, such as stimulus and other development activities,” he said.
He said this at a webinar titled “Covid-19 Stimulus Packages: An Analysis of Institutional Capacity, Transparency, and Accountability” and organised by the Asia Foundation, Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), and the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) on Saturday.
The minister said the complete success of projects depends on authentic information from target groups along with the accessibility of researchers and relevant people who would work with them.
“Immediate response measures are more important to a government in an emergency or crisis situation than waiting for data collection,” he said.
He further said the government had done just that in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic. It had of course been done through the banking sector and other countries had done the same, Mannan said.
“There might have been some misunderstanding at first in identifying who would benefit from this, but that was later fixed. In most cases, beneficiaries are properly identified. The government’s main goal is to solve the problem,” he added.
Other speakers said the government's incentive packages had been extremely effective in combating the effects of the pandemic on the economy and its recovery.
They said organised business groups had benefited more from incentive packages, though the assistance was essential for informal sectors.
The speakers identified institutional weakness as one of the reasons for that, saying institutional capacity for effective implementation of crisis management initiatives needs to be enhanced along with policy reforms.
Responding to this, the planning minister said there was a shortage of skills both at the government and social levels. “The government has taken various initiatives to address this and regularly monitors progress as well.”
RAPID Chairman Dr MA Razzaque said the government's stimulus packages had certainly had a positive impact.
“Bangladesh was ranked 22nd among the top 53 economies in the world. This January, however, it has slipped to 29th position.”
He also said despite some limitations, Bangladesh had been praised by the world for tackling Covid-19 and maintaining positive economic growth.
“The organised groups, especially the export sector, have got more benefits. They also have easy access to government policymakers. In comparison, medium, small, and micro enterprises in informal sectors did not get the right benefits. It is too late for the tourism sector to get incentives,” he added.
Dr Md Kawser Ahmed, member (secretary) of General Economics Division of the Planning Commission, and Dr Md Khairuzzaman, additional secretary of the finance ministry, spoke at the function as special guests.
Dr Naznin Ahmed, country economist of the United Nations Development Programme, Nurul Alam, deputy general manager of the Bangladesh Bank, Md Anwar Faruk Talukder, executive vice-president of Dutch-Bangla Bank, Dr Abu Eusuf, executive director of RAPID, and Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country director of the Asia Foundation, spoke at the programme among others.
Economic Reporters' Forum President Sharmeen Rinvy presided over the function while its Secretary SM Rashidul Islam moderated the webinar.
