UNB, Dhaka :
As a large part of the country’s population is young and its economic growth is on a good track, noted economists think the government should now shift its focus to human development from GDP growth for inclusive and sustainable progress.
They said the traditional focus on GDP growth is not very fruitful to alleviate poverty, remove inequalities, empower women, strengthen the social safety net and establish good governance.
The economic experts said the government
should concentrate on the ‘stubborn’ pockets of poverty (riverbank erosion-prone areas, haor areas, remote hilly areas in Chittagong), and chronic poor, dalits, hijras, street children, female agricultural workers, baggers and physically-challenged people to increase their income by turning them into human resources through giving them various supports, including training.
They also stressed the need for ensuring economic good governance, removing inequalities, enhancing education quality, private investment and institutional capacity to further accelerate the country’s economic growth.
Talking to UNB, noted economist and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said GDP growth is very fashionable in Bangladesh with high focus on it by the government and all other stakeholders, even by the media. “Be it within the government or outside, there is a widespread concern about GDP. International agencies such as World Bank and ADB also join in.”
Mentioning that the conventional focus on GDP is not very useful from the point of view of inclusive development, he said, “Of course, growth of income is necessary. But, its distribution is crucial for inclusive and sustainable development. From this point of view, it’s more useful to focus on human being.”
If the people at large are assisted through, for example, skill training, facilitation of access to resources and markets to improve their economic circumstances and living conditions, the PKSP chairman said their incomes will increase and poverty will be reduced. “Also, expansion of their productive activities will lead to a decline in disparity and increase in GDP.” Bangladesh has before it a huge demographic dividend to realise as a large part of its population is young, he said adding to realise these dividends means that the huge young population should be educated and trained and enabled to participate effectively in the socio-economic transformation processes. Ex-caretaker government adviser Dr ABM Mirza Azizul Islam said the government should give more focus on ensuring good governance and extending he social safety net for sustainable development. “If we can’t address a number of issues such as tax policy, financial sector policy, good governance and corruption, people won’t be able to get the benefits of high GDP growth,” he said.
Executive director of Power and Participation Research Centre Hossain Zillur Rahman said the country’s GDP growth rate is positive, but various economic indicators show that this growth is not inclusive.
“Income inequality is a key indicator which demonstrates our GDP growth is not inclusive. There’s a huge disparity regarding income. The net income of the people of Dhaka city is much higher than that of the entire other regions of the country. There’s also widespread educational inequality. Only a small section of people is getting high quality education, while the majority people are being deprived of it.”
To make the GDP growth inclusive, Zillur, also a former caretaker government adviser, said, “We need to reassess our economic development strategy taking a separate approach for every sector, ensure economic good governance, strengthen institutional capacity and check corruption.
As a large part of the country’s population is young and its economic growth is on a good track, noted economists think the government should now shift its focus to human development from GDP growth for inclusive and sustainable progress.
They said the traditional focus on GDP growth is not very fruitful to alleviate poverty, remove inequalities, empower women, strengthen the social safety net and establish good governance.
The economic experts said the government
should concentrate on the ‘stubborn’ pockets of poverty (riverbank erosion-prone areas, haor areas, remote hilly areas in Chittagong), and chronic poor, dalits, hijras, street children, female agricultural workers, baggers and physically-challenged people to increase their income by turning them into human resources through giving them various supports, including training.
They also stressed the need for ensuring economic good governance, removing inequalities, enhancing education quality, private investment and institutional capacity to further accelerate the country’s economic growth.
Talking to UNB, noted economist and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said GDP growth is very fashionable in Bangladesh with high focus on it by the government and all other stakeholders, even by the media. “Be it within the government or outside, there is a widespread concern about GDP. International agencies such as World Bank and ADB also join in.”
Mentioning that the conventional focus on GDP is not very useful from the point of view of inclusive development, he said, “Of course, growth of income is necessary. But, its distribution is crucial for inclusive and sustainable development. From this point of view, it’s more useful to focus on human being.”
If the people at large are assisted through, for example, skill training, facilitation of access to resources and markets to improve their economic circumstances and living conditions, the PKSP chairman said their incomes will increase and poverty will be reduced. “Also, expansion of their productive activities will lead to a decline in disparity and increase in GDP.” Bangladesh has before it a huge demographic dividend to realise as a large part of its population is young, he said adding to realise these dividends means that the huge young population should be educated and trained and enabled to participate effectively in the socio-economic transformation processes. Ex-caretaker government adviser Dr ABM Mirza Azizul Islam said the government should give more focus on ensuring good governance and extending he social safety net for sustainable development. “If we can’t address a number of issues such as tax policy, financial sector policy, good governance and corruption, people won’t be able to get the benefits of high GDP growth,” he said.
Executive director of Power and Participation Research Centre Hossain Zillur Rahman said the country’s GDP growth rate is positive, but various economic indicators show that this growth is not inclusive.
“Income inequality is a key indicator which demonstrates our GDP growth is not inclusive. There’s a huge disparity regarding income. The net income of the people of Dhaka city is much higher than that of the entire other regions of the country. There’s also widespread educational inequality. Only a small section of people is getting high quality education, while the majority people are being deprived of it.”
To make the GDP growth inclusive, Zillur, also a former caretaker government adviser, said, “We need to reassess our economic development strategy taking a separate approach for every sector, ensure economic good governance, strengthen institutional capacity and check corruption.
