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Target job creation, reining in inflation in new budget

Says Citizen’s Platform for SDGs in a webinar
STAR BUSINESS REPORT
The government should prioritise job creation and inflation control in the budget for the next fiscal year in a bid to help the marginalised people survive amid higher prices of essentials, said the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, yesterday.
“The upcoming budget is more important to people as they are facing challenges from the price hike of commodities,” said Debapriya Bhattacharya, convener of the platform, at a virtual dialogue on the expectation of the mass people from the upcoming budget.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to unveil a Tk 677,864 crore national budget for 2022-23 in June, up 12 per cent from the budget in the outgoing fiscal year.
The calls for protecting the marginalised people and the lower-income groups have grown as inflation has escalated in Bangladesh owing to the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine War and the dragging coronavirus pandemic, both of which have disrupted global supply chains and sent commodities prices higher.
“The budget should not be an ordinary one in an extraordinary period,” said Bhattacharya, also a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Direct and indirect unemployment has risen and the price level has gone up since the outbreak of Covid-19.
“The main priority of the upcoming budget should be creating jobs instead of making efforts to achieve the GDP growth target,” Bhattacharya said.
“Only uttering words is not sufficient. A clear plan should be presented in the budget to give an outline on the number of jobs to be created in both public and private sectors.”
The budget should project the number of people who will go abroad in search of jobs and the number of people who will turn to entrepreneurship, creating jobs for themselves and for others.
According to the economist, another target should be reducing the prices of essentials.
“The general public and the lower-middle-income groups are in a devastating situation. Their earnings have not risen in line with the pace of the price level.”
Inflation jumped to 6.17 per cent in February, the highest in 16 months, driven by soaring costs of foods, further eroding the purchasing capacity of consumers.
Bhattacharya called for widening the open market sale operation of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh and raising allocation under social safety net programmes and direct assistance.
The budget should be inclusive so that marginalised people can survive and find a way out of the current situation, he added.
Transgender people always live in a tight situation since they can’t live with their families, so they deserve an incentive, said Robaet Ferdous, a professor of the mass communication and journalism department at the University of Dhaka.
The government gave recognition to them in 2011. They need specialised SME loans so that they can start small businesses, he said.
Prof Ferdous said house owners don’t rent out to transgender people normally, so separate homes are necessary for them.
“The government should allocate funds in this regard,” he said, adding that if any entrepreneur employs transgender people they should be incentivised.
The platform, which comprises more than 100 non-state actors and their networks and associates, has formulated a paper, which will be submitted to the government, where the voices of the marginalised people have been included.
It proposed raising the education budget from 2 per cent of the gross domestic product to at least 4 per cent and allocating subsidies to the educational institutions to help them buy smartphones, tabs and laptops for students and digitalise the education system.
The government should set aside more funds to the ethnic minority and Dalits through allocation in the areas of education, health, economic development and social protection schemes, it said.