Staff Reporter :
Thousands of people face severe economic challenges with increased incidents of non-payment of salaries, job cuts, leave without pay and salary cuts amid Covid-19 pandemic.
Even, job losses and collapse in income have also forced thousands to leave the capital.
Economists have expressed serious concern regarding the increased hardship, urging government to take emergency measures to contain the virus that may help stimulate the economy as well as save jobs people who are at risk of losing livelihoods.
“The economic crisis created by the pandemic in Bangladesh has robbed jobs and income tens of thousands of workers, pushing them in vulnerable situation,” Economist Dr Zahid Hussain told The New Nation.
He said the government should offer payroll protection programme to save livelihood of jobless people in this emergency situation. Besides, easy terms loans should be provided to the private enterprises to protect jobs.
Dr Zahid Hussain, however, said that it is difficult for the government to provide such support for a long time because it has limited resource. “So, it should give focus on pandemic containment and incase capacity of the health sector which is crucial to help boost investors’ confidence and stimulate the economy. This can also help protect job losses.”
He also said that the government should also provide necessary supports to the entrepreneurs of SMEs because the sector is the major source of employment generation in the country.
“The job loss has been reported from both formal and informal sectors due to the coronavirus outbreak. But it caused the real devastation on the workers of informal sector that created largest jobs in the country,” he added.
Dr Zahid Hussain apprehended that many sectors are yet to restart their full-scale operation due to economic slowdown. “This can wipe out more jobs in the months to come,” he added
A total of 6.0 million business entrepreneurs are now running SMEs across the country. At present contribution of SME to GDP growth of Bangladesh is 25 per cent and the sector The sector accounts for 35.49 percent of the total employment in Bangladesh, according to a study conducted by the International Cooperation Organisation for Small and Medium Enterprises in Asia (ICOSA), Japan.
The study found that Bangladesh has 17,384 micro enterprises, 15,666 small ones, 6,103 medium and 3,639 large scale enterprises, engaging a total of 5.02 million people.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented social and economic impact globally. In Bangladesh, the economic shutdown sparked by COVID-19 also threatens millions of livelihoods imminently,” Economist Dr Ahsan H Mansur told The New Nation.
He said in Dhaka many people have also lost their jobs since the coronavirus pandemic began and many are unable to pay their house rent. They are now in difficulty eking out a living. Even many are heading for their village home from Dhaka to avoid the economic pain,” he added.
He also mentioned that hundreds of thousands of low-income group people are in dire straits because of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. “They need emergency aid …emergency cash support programme to maintain livelihood,” he added.
About 13 percent people have become unemployed in the country due to Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
BIDS conducted the survey from May 5 to 29, 2020. It was unveiled on Wednesday at a virtual conversation titled “In the Shadow of COVID – Coping, Adjustments, Responses” organised by BIDS.
It noticed expected and significant negative effects on employment, income and expenditures of people, especially those from low-income groups.
