Calls for special policy support for marginalised people in FY22

Debapriya Bhattacharya, convenor of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, has said that specific policy supports were needed in the next budget to uplift the marginalised and disadvantaged people who were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Debapriya, also a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said, “Covid-19 situation has adversely affected the people of all strata in our society but marginalised and disadvantaged sections took the severe hit. To uplift them from the desperate situation, I want specific policy supports in the upcoming budget”.

He made the call at a webinar held in a virtual platform titled ‘National Budget for 2021-22: What should be there for the disadvantaged people’ on Sunday.

“The government should promote consumption, investment, spending and net exports coupled with special attention to protection for the poor and low-income people in FY2021-22,” said, Debapriya Bhattacharya.

Explaining the status of revenue collection and annual development programme expenditure until March of FY21, he said, “Revenue collection was 50 per cent of the target with 7.3(+) per cent growth and ADP expenditure was 42 per cent of total allocation with 4.3(-) per cent growth”.

Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the CPD, said, “Marginalised people bear the brunt of shortfall in public development programmes, which we had experienced in 2020. But in 2021, we saw the inability of the government to implement public expenditure programmes, which emerges as a binding constraint”.

Before July in FY2020, Tk 77,278 crore (2.76 per cent of GDP) stimulus was announced while it was roughly Tk 47,715.50 crore (1.71 per cent of GDP) in FY2021 before May.

According to Mustafizur Rahman, “Strategic priorities like cash help to disadvantaged communities, liquidity flow to micro, small and medium enterprises, domestic market-oriented manufacturing sector, post-harvest mechanisation of agriculture and IT-platform are needed in FY2021-22 budget.”

There were 14 fiscal supports (including two food supports), which were less than 20.5 per cent of the total allocation.