Special Correspondent :
Bangladesh still struggles with unemployment despite posting an impressive growth in gross domestic product (GDP) averaged at 6.5 per cent in the decade since 2004, driven largely by exports of apparels, remittances and the agriculture sector.
But unemployment rate in the country averaged 4.50 per cent from 2003 until 2014, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
It said, the country has about 5.78 crore workable population.
Officials said, about 20 lakh people are entering the job market every year. But the number of people entering the job market is greater than the number of jobs created pushing up the unemployment rate.
GDP growth rate in Bangladesh averaged 5.63 per cent in between the fiscal years 1999-2000 and 2005-2006 when it achieved an average 3.3 per cent employment growth, said the officials.
The country, however, achieved an average 6.11 per cent GDP growth in between the fiscal years 2005-06 and 2010, recording a 3.32 per cent annual employment growth by this time.
GDP growth rate increased further to 6.22 per cent on an average in between the years 2010 and 2013. But employment growth rate declined to 2.39 per cent by this time.
The growth expanded to 7.05 per cent in 2016 from the previous year, reaching all-time high.
“Unemployment remains a persistence problem for Bangladesh despite the rapid economic expansion in recent years. It’s a ‘jobless growth’ and the phenomenon creates a roadblock on the way to achieving the country’s strategic development goal and poverty reduction,” Prof Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director (ED), the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) told The New Nation on Friday.
He said: “Unemployment is a chronic problem for Bangladesh economy. Low investment and sluggish industrialisation are mainly responsible for the prevailing unemployment problem.”
Prof Mustafiz pointed out that a rapid industrialization can substantially reduce unemployment. But this is not happening due to various reasons including infrastructure bottleneck and lack of a suitable investment climate.
“GDP growth during the recent years had been fueled
by the service sector. But the industrial sector, compared with the service sector, has the better ability to create more job opportunities for the poor and unemployed youths,” he said.
He suggested more government support for the industrial sector through investments in education, skills training and infrastructure to achieve a higher manufacturing growth to prop up job creation.
“The government has to do a lot to improve investor confidence and boost investment. It is aggressively building infrastructure and cutting bureaucratic red tape to help attract investment. But it is yet to bear any fruit due to time overrun in project’s implementation,” observed Prof Mustafiz.
“Job creation does not keep up with economic growth due to lack of proper economic policy,” Prof Abu Ahmed, an economist told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the government must adopt a short, mid and long-term policy to address the issue. It should invest in the countryside to create more jobs.
“Bangladesh is a growing economy with abundant labor force. If the labor force is not brought under the economic activities, its growth story would remain largely meaningless,” he added.
Bangladesh still struggles with unemployment despite posting an impressive growth in gross domestic product (GDP) averaged at 6.5 per cent in the decade since 2004, driven largely by exports of apparels, remittances and the agriculture sector.
But unemployment rate in the country averaged 4.50 per cent from 2003 until 2014, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
It said, the country has about 5.78 crore workable population.
Officials said, about 20 lakh people are entering the job market every year. But the number of people entering the job market is greater than the number of jobs created pushing up the unemployment rate.
GDP growth rate in Bangladesh averaged 5.63 per cent in between the fiscal years 1999-2000 and 2005-2006 when it achieved an average 3.3 per cent employment growth, said the officials.
The country, however, achieved an average 6.11 per cent GDP growth in between the fiscal years 2005-06 and 2010, recording a 3.32 per cent annual employment growth by this time.
GDP growth rate increased further to 6.22 per cent on an average in between the years 2010 and 2013. But employment growth rate declined to 2.39 per cent by this time.
The growth expanded to 7.05 per cent in 2016 from the previous year, reaching all-time high.
“Unemployment remains a persistence problem for Bangladesh despite the rapid economic expansion in recent years. It’s a ‘jobless growth’ and the phenomenon creates a roadblock on the way to achieving the country’s strategic development goal and poverty reduction,” Prof Dr Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director (ED), the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) told The New Nation on Friday.
He said: “Unemployment is a chronic problem for Bangladesh economy. Low investment and sluggish industrialisation are mainly responsible for the prevailing unemployment problem.”
Prof Mustafiz pointed out that a rapid industrialization can substantially reduce unemployment. But this is not happening due to various reasons including infrastructure bottleneck and lack of a suitable investment climate.
“GDP growth during the recent years had been fueled
by the service sector. But the industrial sector, compared with the service sector, has the better ability to create more job opportunities for the poor and unemployed youths,” he said.
He suggested more government support for the industrial sector through investments in education, skills training and infrastructure to achieve a higher manufacturing growth to prop up job creation.
“The government has to do a lot to improve investor confidence and boost investment. It is aggressively building infrastructure and cutting bureaucratic red tape to help attract investment. But it is yet to bear any fruit due to time overrun in project’s implementation,” observed Prof Mustafiz.
“Job creation does not keep up with economic growth due to lack of proper economic policy,” Prof Abu Ahmed, an economist told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the government must adopt a short, mid and long-term policy to address the issue. It should invest in the countryside to create more jobs.
“Bangladesh is a growing economy with abundant labor force. If the labor force is not brought under the economic activities, its growth story would remain largely meaningless,” he added.
