Welcoming the government's announcement of Tk 50 billion stimulus package for agriculture sector, Dr Selim Raihan, executive director of SANEM suggested some steps to make the disbursement of the package effective.
Dr Raihan, in a statement on Sunday, said as the domestic supply chain of agricultural materials has collapsed, the current crisis in the agricultural sector cannot be solved by just giving loans to farmers.
He suggested necessary measures on how to re-initiate the supply-chain of agricultural materials at the field level, in compliance with the health regulations.
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Home Affairs must work jointly with the local administration and businessmen, he added.
Mr Selim also said, “Agricultural workers, who travel from different parts of the Northern region to work during the Boro paddy cultivation across the country, are unable to travel during this crisis time. Due to this, critical shortage of agricultural workers is occurring in different places of the country. A similar crisis is seen in summer fruit cultivation”.
In this regard, he suggested the ministries of agriculture, health, transport and home to work jointly with the local administration to ensure safe passage for agricultural workers, in compliance with health regulations.
“I request the government to rethink about the 5.0 per cent interest rate. At this particular crisis, my recommendation is to go for interest-free loans under this particular stimulus package”, he continued.
Selim Raihan advised the government that the highest importance should be given to the agricultural sector and every effort should be made to ensure that agricultural production is not disrupted.
South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), launched in January 2007 in Dhaka, is a non-profit research organisation registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms in Bangladesh.
It is also a network of economists and policy makers in South Asia with a special emphasis on economic modelling.