Urgent fix needed for economic woes : CPD Executive Director Fahmida Khatun

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Dr Fahmida Khatun expressed her disappointment over the decision to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate and impose additional supplementary duties on more than 100 products by the interim government, just six months after it assumed power following the fall of the Awami League regime, which crumbled like ninepins in the face of a mass uprising in August last year.
Amid criticisms, the increased VAT rate was withdrawn from some of the products. Finance Adviser Salehduddin Ahmed expected that there would be no major impact on overall inflation, but the CPD Executive Director disagreed.
‘These decisions are bound to hurt the majority of consumers,’ she said.
For her, inflation represents a major challenge for the interim government, especially in light of the huge expectations from the public to rise to the occasion after years of long repression and a lack of freedom of speech under the Awami League government led by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
‘People want comfort,’ she said.
‘Without providing comfort to the people, the interim government will not be able to free them from discrimination,’ she added, highlighting that the call for ending discrimination was at the heart of the spectacular mass uprising that brought an end to the 15-year rule of the Awami League.
Earlier, she described the current state of the economy, which, according to her, had been left behind by the ousted regime.
To evaluate the present economic situation, everyone must look back, she said, pointing out that the Awami League regime had focused on a narrative of development. However, in reality, all the key economic indicators had been deteriorating.
‘Obviously, there were some developments, but they were not sustainable due to the absence of necessary reforms,’ she said.
Questions had been raised about the so-called development narrative promoted by the Awami League due to the decline in private investment, foreign direct investment, employment, and the rising number of youth who are ‘Not in Education, Employment, or Training’ (NEET).
The NEET population increased by more than 10 percentage points in the past five years up to 2022, making them more vulnerable in the labour market. Aged between 15 and 24, the NEET population was recorded at 40.67 per cent in 2022, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in its publication, The Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2022.

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