The government needs to enhance the coverage of social protection by adding new poor to the new plans for tackling the second wave of coronavirus, experts said on Thursday.
For proper execution of the social safety net programme to protect rural and urban poor, they suggested strict and regular monitoring of targeting mechanisms to avert both inclusive and exclusive errors in the system.
To gain the maximum outcomes of the government subsidy, they also recommended applying innovative tools instead of traditional approaches, which would give the economy much-needed impetus to make a strong rebound.
The suggestions came at the third edition of a dialogue series on employment creation and revitalising rural economy from Covid-19 fallout in Bangladesh sponsored by the ministry of finance.
The third part, held at Osmani Auditorium in the capital, was chaired by senior secretary of the finance division Abdur Rouf Talukder.
Speaking at the event, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said the policymakers need to assess the existing social security programmes as Bangladesh has entered into the second phase of the pandemic crisis.
"We have to make a quick and proper assessment whether our existing programmes are enough or we need more in the context of the existing crisis," he said.
Citing a CPD study, Mr Moazzem said only 33 per cent of the poor have so far been covered by the social protection programmes while 20 per cent of the non-poor get benefits from the scheme.
During this pandemic, 28 per cent youth left education to support their families while a huge number of people became jobless, according to Dr Moazzem.
"We actually need to widen the coverage by including new groups of poor as the pandemic created 17.5 million new poor," he added.
President of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dhaka, Nihad Kabir said they observed vibrancy in the domestic economy from June-July riding on the stimulus packages, but things slowed down again from November, which is a concern.
In terms of demand and prices, she said, they cannot get back to the previous level.
Giving an example of the tea industry where her family is involved, the MCCI president said the demand and price in that sector declined by 30 per cent.
"It will take time to offset the shock and move forward. For that, we need time and favourable policy support for a longer time," she said.
She also highlighted the importance of tie-up between banks and microfinance institutions to accelerate the disbursement of funds for smaller firms, hurt by Covid.
Cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, as the special guest, termed the pandemic a long-time phenomenon and said the coming years will be crucial for the economy as some exports will start facing problems.
But the government is aware of each possible challenge and it will overcome by joining hands with the stakeholders, he said.
Senior secretary of the finance division Abdur Rouf Talukder denied there is scope for overlapping in the social protection system as the list of beneficiaries is made by linking NID (national identification).
He said they received a list of 6.0 million beneficiaries for cash transfer support from the field level, but it was automatically curtailed to only 3.7 million after putting into the system.
"The people we select are appropriate and the leakage is zero here," he insisted.
Speaking as the chief guest, LGRD minister Tajul Islam said the economy has started rebounding much earlier than many other developing or developed economies, thanks to the quick response of the government.
He called upon the development partners to come forward and invest in the country, where debt-GDP ratio is still low.
He also emphasised boosting tax mobilisation and promoting good governance by ensuring people's participation.
Professor of economics at Dhaka University Dr Firdousi Naher said the country requires building its own resilience in food system that will deliver the need for the minimum nutrition intake within the border.
She also laid emphasis on the formation of an agriculture price commission, which will benefit all segments of people.
