A study said that 69 per cent of business firms in Bangladesh did not get the government-announced stimulus package to tackle the Covid-19 situation while 9 per cent of the businesses do not even know of the facilities.
The South Asian Network on Economic Modeling unveiled the information in a webinar on Sunday.
SANEM in collaboration with The Asia Foundation conducted the 4th round of a nationwide firm-level survey with 500 business entities from April 6 to April 18.
SANEM’s executive director Selim Raihan, also a professor of economics at Dhaka University, disclosed the survey findings and moderated the programme.
Only 22 per cent of business firms received stimulus package and the ready-made garment sector got 58 per cent of total the incentives.
The transport sector got 5 per cent, wholesale traders 6 per cent, retailers 9 per cent but the ICT sector did not get any incentives, the study said.
Economist Zahid Hussain and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rizwan Rahman also joined the program as panelists.
Zahid Hussain pointed out that recovery across the economy was experienced to some extent but it was not uniform across all sectors. Large firms experienced some advantage over the micro and small firms, he said.
According to Zahid, size of the firm, firm location, performance history, export status are well-known reasons behind why some firms have coped better during the pandemic.
He asked the research team to further explore the influence of Covid-19 protocol compliance on the extent of recovery.
He pointed out that large firms often had more influence and power, leading to better bargaining power and hence, giving them better access to stimulus packages.
Rizwan Rahman said that there should be more attention to the cottage industries, micro and small entrepreneurs. If they do not survive, achieving the country’s middle-income status would go far, he said.
He questioned how would the 2.5 crore people who entered into poverty due to the pandemic be rehabilitated.
“We need strict and sector-wise guidelines to distribute the stimulus package,” he said.
Mentioning Vietnam and Korea’s tax system, Rizwan said that foreign direct investment should be increased in local business.
He called for full automation for tax returns and VAT processing.
SANEM and The Asia Foundation jointly took the initiative to measure the state of business confidence in Bangladesh based on a quarterly nationwide firm-level survey since July 2020.
The survey explores the outlooks and expectations of the business community amidst the ongoing pandemic. The 4th round of the survey covered 253 firms from the manufacturing sector and 250 firms from the services sector.
