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PM-UN-COVID-19 -2 -DHAKA
The Bangladesh premier described migrant workers as “frontline contributors” to the economies of their host and home countries alike and therefore they deserved a fair treatment in the countries where they were dedicating their services and an extra-empathy by the host nations and international community particularly during the current pandemic.
Sheikh Hasina said the ongoing unprecedented crisis in humankind’s history that forced as well the United Nations to stage for the first time its general assembly on digital platform debarring the heads of states physical presence at its New York headquarters.
She said the situation reflected how the pandemic affected the global economy and health systems while Bangladesh was no exception while the country recorded the record high 8.2 percent GDP growth in the last fiscal.
But, she said, as the pandemic broke out her government put in its efforts to strike a balance between “life the livelihood”, quickly identifying its impending rage on the financial sector and massively expanding the social safety nets coverage.
Sheikh Hasina said under the initiative food and other assistance was readily arranged for people who are rendered jobless and these arrangements benefitted nearly 10 million families.
“To ensure healthcare of the common people, we are providing 30 types of medicines free of cost through 18,000 community clinics and union health centres,” she said.
Moreover, the premier said, alongside the government assistance, she herself collected funds and distributed more than an amount of taka 2.5 billion among orphans, poor students, school teachers, artists, journalists and institutions like madrasas, mosques, temples, which otherwise were not included in government’s assistance programmes.
“As a result, the impact of the pandemic among our people has been minimal,” she said.
She said the quick situation analysis yielded 21 stimulus packages worth US$ 13.25 billion “which is equivalent to 4.03% of our total GDP” and added “we have announced stimulus packages aiming to minimize the impact of the pandemic on our business and productivity.
The premier said these packages include sectors such as export-intensive industries, safety and security of the workers, working capital for small and medium enterprises, loan facilities for export growth, assistance to farmers and agriculture, loan for employment generation, interest relief for the affected business enterprises, refinancing schemes and insurance for the health workers.
The premier said soon after detection of first three COVID-19 cases in March in Bangladesh her government announced 31-point directive and launched vigorous awareness raising campaigns as well as distributed personal protective kits aiming to contain coronavirus spread.
“These resulted in containment of seasonal diseases which are otherwise common in our country,” she said.
The premier said the pandemic prompted her government initially to lay highest emphasis on food production and ensure adequate supply of nutrition to people and subsequently special arrangements were made to keep running the essential industries.
She said services were ensured for proper marketing of agricultural products and industrial outputs in full compliance with health guidelines and as a result of these initiatives “our health sector and economy are still comparatively at a better shape”.
Sheikh Hasina said despite the COVID-induced stagnation in global industrial outputs, Bangladesh’s GDP registered a growth rate of 5.24 p[ercent which, otherwise, however, was expected to be 7 percent in the next fiscal.
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