PM unveils four programmes to tackle economic fallout from COVID-19

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday announced her government’s four strategic programmes which will be implemented in three phases until 2023-24 fiscal year to overcome the possible adverse impact on the national economy due to the global outbreak of COVID-19.

She said the four government programmes are increasing public expenditure, introducing fiscal packages, expanding social safety net programmes and increasing money supply.

Sheikh Hasina said the first phase (immediate phase) programmes will be implemented over the next three months of the current fiscal year (2019-20), while the short phase in the next fiscal year (2020-21) and the medium phase in the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years.

“The shock of the world economic recession has become a cause of concern for our economy. We don’t know how long this crisis will persist and how it’ll affect our economy. But we’re working to face the possible economic adverse impact,” she said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said this while addressing the nation on Monday evening ahead of Pahela Baishakh 1427.

State-owned Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television simultaneously broadcast the Prime Minister’s address. Private television channels and radio stations also aired the speech.

In her around 16-minute speech, Sheikh Hasina said the government has already announced various stimulus packages worth Tk 95,619 crore which is 3.3 percent of the GDP.

She said the government has taken various programmes to protect the marginal people.

In this connection, she mentioned that the government has allocated 5 lakh metric tons of rice and 1 lakh metric ton of wheat for distribution free among the low-income group people and the market price of this allocation is Tk 2,503 crore.

For the low-income people living in urban areas, the sale of rice at Tk 10 under the OMS has started and 74,000 metric tons of rice will be distributed under this programme and the government had to allot Tk 251 crore for this, the Prime Minister said.

She said directives have been given to prepare a list quickly with the bank accounts of day-labourers, rickshaw- or van-pullers, transport workers, construction workers, newspaper hawkers, hotel employees and other professionals who have lost their jobs due to the long vacation or partial lockdown. After preparing the list, one-time cash will be sent to the bank accounts. A total of Tk 760 crore has been allocated for this.

The Prime Minister said the net of ‘old age allowance’ and ‘widow and husband-abandoned women allowance’ will be widened to cent percent under the social safety net programmes in 100 highest poverty-stricken upazilas. The budget for this programme is Tk 815 crore.

She said quick implementation of the programme to provide homes for all homeless people of the country will be done which was taken as one of the programmes to observe the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. “For this purpose, Tk 2,130 crore will be allotted and no-one will remain homeless,” she said.

‘Don’t lose morale’: PM to health workers

Pointing at physicians, nurses and other health workers, the Prime Minister asked them not to lose their morale during this crisis, saying the whole nation is there with them.

“Doctors, nurses and other health workers continue to provide treatment to COVID-19 patients from the frontline, ignoring the constraint of resources and the risk of death. Your profession is of such a challenge. Don’t lose the morale during this crisis. The people of the country are beside you,” she said.

The Prime Minister on behalf of the people of the country thanked and hailed the health workers, saying the government has already directed all those concerned to prepare a list of the health workers who directly deal with the coronavirus-infected patients.

Special honorarium and health insurance

The health workers will be given special honorarium as an amount of Tk 100 crore is being allocated to this end.

Sheikh Hasina said a process is underway to introduce a special health insurance for physicians, nurses, other health workers, field-level administration officers, members of law enforcement agencies, Armed Forces and BGB, and other government employees directly engaged in this regard.

If anyone gets contacted with Covid-19, then there will be health insurance of Tk 5-10 lakh for the person depending on the rank and position. In the case of death, one will get five times of the insurance amount. The allocation of Tk 750 crore is being kept aside for the health insurance and life insurance in this regard, she said.