November 3, 2022
DHAKA – People’s income has not increased the same way inflation has risen in the country, Planning Minister MA Mannan said yesterday.
“But we should keep in mind the immediate reason for the rise in inflation as it is not a failure of our market,” he said.
“Our market is now integrated with the global market and due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, some pressure in other economies has affected us,” Mannan added.
He made these remarks after meeting with a delegation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at the planning ministry.
Mannan then claimed that the current inflation is actually good for Bangladesh.
“Still, we are working on it and will continue [doing so],” the planning minister said.
Asked whether the economy will reach a comfortable place if the IMF loan comes through, Mannan used an analogy to explain that it would.
“If I have Tk 100 in my pocket, it would be a little better if someone lends Tk 10 more,” he said.
The government had approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan in July earlier this year to address the country’s current economic challenges.
And although the loan would provide some relief, Mannan said the government is not actually in any uncomfortable situation at the moment.
He then informed that the ILO did not ask to increase the wages of workers in all sectors as they only made the suggestion for tea workers and coastal fishermen.
“But the government has already hiked the wages of tea workers and it will be increased further,” Mannan said, adding that the ILO has assured of giving technical assistance for different sectors.
Among others, the ILO delegation consisted of Gunjan Dallakoti, SME specialist, Igor Bosc, chief technical adviser, Anne Drong, project coordinator, and Khadija Khondker, programme officer.