Special attention to increase employment
The number of people participating in the country’s labor force has decreased significantly. Although the number of unemployed people was relatively low at the beginning of the year, it increased at the end of the year. The latest labor force survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has revealed that the number of unemployed people in the country has increased by 170,000 over the year. During this period, employment in agriculture, industry and services sectors has decreased. Currently, the number of unemployed people in the country has stood at 2.66 million. In this case, the number of unemployed men has increased more than that of women.
Experts believe that the income and employment of the common people are decreasing due to high inflation. One of the reasons for this is the increase in interest rates on bank loans and the decline in production. Although depositors have benefited somewhat due to the increase in interest rates, a crisis has arisen for banks and businessmen. Despite paying high interest, banks are not able to collect sufficient deposits, while the private sector is facing a credit crisis.
According to BBS data, the current size of the labor force is 59.18 million. However, in the third quarter of 2023, this number was 61.15 million. That is, the number of people participating in the labor force has decreased by 1.95 million in one year. Currently, 56.52 million people are employed, the rest are unemployed.
Every year, about 2 million people enter the job market, of which 13-14 million people find employment within the country. The rest go abroad for work. As a result, the number of unemployed has generally fluctuated between 24-28 million for two decades.
Finance Department sources said that to overcome this situation, special emphasis is being given to increasing employment in the 2025-26 budget. Although economists have proposed a budget of less than 8 lakh crore taka, the size of the budget will be slightly increased to increase employment. Employment will not increase if government expenditure is reduced too much, so in addition to increasing expenditure, there is a plan to reduce borrowing from the bank sector, so that entrepreneurs can easily get financing.
It is learned that the work of formulating the national budget for the next fiscal year has begun, which will be the first budget of the current interim government. The new budget will prioritize food security, inflation control and socio-economic development. There is also a plan to increase the coverage of social security programs and allowances for the backward communities.
On the other hand, the government is also paying special attention to ensuring food security. Due to crop damage in several rounds of severe floods in the current fiscal year, the production of Aush and Aman has fallen short of the target by about 1.3 million tons. As of January 7, the government’s foodgrain stock was about 23 percent lower than last year. Therefore, initiatives have been taken to import 900,000 tons of foodgrains in the current fiscal year to maintain normal stock and supply. In addition, subsidies are continuing to keep the price of fertilizer stable to ensure smooth local foodgrain production.
In the revised budget for the current fiscal year, subsidies for the agricultural sector have been increased from 21,000 crore to 28,000 crore taka. There are plans to increase the allocation for this sector in the next budget as well. At the same time, 8,059 crore taka has been allocated for food subsidies in the revised budget for the current fiscal year. In order to keep OMS, TCB and food-friendly programs running throughout the year, an increased allocation is being made for this sector, which will continue in the next budget as well.
Do Follow: greenbanglaonline24
