The Brac University Economics Club (BUEC) organised a technical workshop on national budget featuring Dr Zahid Hussain, the former Lead Economist at the World Bank, recently to give an overview of fiscal layout to the students and club members.
Professor and Chairperson of Department of Economics & Social Sciences Dr Farzana Munshi delivered the welcome address while David Dowland, Registrar & Controller of Examinations (acting), delivered concluding remarks at the workshop.
Club members and students of various departments of the university and visitors attended the one-and-half-hour-long workshop.
The Financial Express was the media partner of the programme.
The event commenced with an opening speech from Dr Farzana Munshi.
She explained a clear analytical viewpoint on foreign currency and economy in general.
She warned that Bangladesh should learn important lessons from the harsh economic despair in Sri Lanka so that it does not fall into the same trap.
Dr Zahid Hussain conducted the workshop to teach the young mind the intricacies of a national budget.
The economist explained briefly the circular flow of the economy by highlighting the importance of the national flow of income.
He said that imbalance in an economy can occur due to key economic impacts, such as recession, inflation and unemployment.
Dr Hussain discussed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that affected various economies across the globe.
The pandemic decreased GDP growth in the European economy with declining investment opportunities.
Private savings were higher than private investment, leading to a fall in national consumption for many western countries such as the United States he said, adding that it had negative impact on the country's remittance, which made the exchange rate fluctuations more vulnerable.
He noted that Bangladesh Bank (BB) stepped in and enforced a floating exchange rate in order to overcome the dollar crisis, as failed, it again allowed the market to determine the exchange rate.
In the light of the current price hike, Dr, Zahid Hussain highlighted the importance of controlling inflation rate, especially, in a period of post-pandemic recovery.
Dr David Dowland, Registrar of Brac University, expressed his gratitude towards the guests and organisers.
He highlighted the importance of this type of workshop and the impact it had on those who are practising outside of the field of economics.
He shared his anticipation of more impactful student-centric events and workshops in the upcoming months.
