Economic Reporter :
Job creation and inclusive growth must be the centrepiece of the recovery strategy amid the growing impact of Covid-19 on the country, a recent study said.
The study titled “Bangladesh at Work in the Era of Covid-19: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth”, said jobless recovery might put the progress of the past decade at risk. In addition, the demographic dividend that Bangladesh has been enjoying might quickly turn into demographic liability.
The study carried out by the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) said the risk of broadening the inequality gap is more than ever before.
Imran Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director at Shakti Foundation and a former research fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute and Syed Mafiz Kamal, a senior analyst at the CRI co-authored the paper.
“We focused on five areas,” said Imran giving much importance on creation of “low income but high volume” jobs in the short term. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the health and safety of the citizens of Bangladesh, the economy plummets due to mandatory closure.
Low income and or labour-intensive jobs, which represent most of the informal sector and a significant share of SMEs, have been most affected, according to the study.
Many of these jobs are temporary and will come back as the economy opens. However, some of the job losses will be more permanent.
Providing additional incentives to labour-intensive sub-sectors in which Bangladesh could fill domestic demand and export excess supply where applicable is one of the key five focus areas.
The agriculture sector, including livestock and fishery sub-sectors, stands out as the largest contributor at 41 percent of total employment but contributes only 13.7 percent to the GDP.
In addition, there is an opportunity to export produce if domestic demand is met, CRI said.
Other relevant high employment generating sectors include RMG, medical goods and equipment manufacturing, food processing, transport and logistics, retail trade, construction, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
Resumption of the labour-intensive infrastructure projects at the earliest convenience is the second area to look into.
Relevant ministry budgets such as LGRD and Road & Transportation funding should be increased appropriately to fast-track the labour-intensive public infrastructure projects such as Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, the Dhaka Metrorail project, Karnaphuli Underwater Tunnel project and Dhaka Elevated Expressway project to name a few, according to the study.
Job creation and inclusive growth must be the centrepiece of the recovery strategy amid the growing impact of Covid-19 on the country, a recent study said.
The study titled “Bangladesh at Work in the Era of Covid-19: Job Creation and Inclusive Growth”, said jobless recovery might put the progress of the past decade at risk. In addition, the demographic dividend that Bangladesh has been enjoying might quickly turn into demographic liability.
The study carried out by the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) said the risk of broadening the inequality gap is more than ever before.
Imran Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director at Shakti Foundation and a former research fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute and Syed Mafiz Kamal, a senior analyst at the CRI co-authored the paper.
“We focused on five areas,” said Imran giving much importance on creation of “low income but high volume” jobs in the short term. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the health and safety of the citizens of Bangladesh, the economy plummets due to mandatory closure.
Low income and or labour-intensive jobs, which represent most of the informal sector and a significant share of SMEs, have been most affected, according to the study.
Many of these jobs are temporary and will come back as the economy opens. However, some of the job losses will be more permanent.
Providing additional incentives to labour-intensive sub-sectors in which Bangladesh could fill domestic demand and export excess supply where applicable is one of the key five focus areas.
The agriculture sector, including livestock and fishery sub-sectors, stands out as the largest contributor at 41 percent of total employment but contributes only 13.7 percent to the GDP.
In addition, there is an opportunity to export produce if domestic demand is met, CRI said.
Other relevant high employment generating sectors include RMG, medical goods and equipment manufacturing, food processing, transport and logistics, retail trade, construction, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
Resumption of the labour-intensive infrastructure projects at the earliest convenience is the second area to look into.
Relevant ministry budgets such as LGRD and Road & Transportation funding should be increased appropriately to fast-track the labour-intensive public infrastructure projects such as Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, the Dhaka Metrorail project, Karnaphuli Underwater Tunnel project and Dhaka Elevated Expressway project to name a few, according to the study.
