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The government should continue subsidizing the agricultural
sector to ensure food security and curb imports, economists said yesterday
(August 6, 2022).
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the
Center for Policy Dialogue, said Bangladesh should continue to subsidize the
agricultural sector as much as possible so that there is no threat to the
country.
"We can take risks in any other sector, but not in
agriculture."
He made the comments at a panel discussion on
"Inflation and consumption", at the Strategy Summit 2022 held at
Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden.
The Valor of Bangladesh (VoB), a platform to facilitate
constructive dialogue amongst industry leaders, corporates and academia,
organised the daylong event.
The policymakers should be very cautious before hiking prices of the agriculture sector's elements, because any negative impact originated from here will result in rising the country's spending for grain imports, he said.
The country is facing an extreme pressure to reduce
subsidies, but, at the same time, the government has to work on ensuring
balanced use of fertiliser in the agriculture sector, the economist said.
At the summit, Bangladesh Bank's Chief Economist Habibur
Rahman highlighted different programmes Bangladesh Bank is taking for the
farmers.
About inflation and the recent oil price hike, Rahman said
people with fixed income will have to suffer, as they are the worst hit and
will need support in the days to come, he said.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the CPD, and
Humayun Rashid, managing director of the Energypac Power Generation Limited,
also spoke at the event.
The summit congregates some leading industry high-ups
through a series of panel discussions to share their perspective on the
macroeconomic challenges to build a sustainable future.
Anis A Khan, chairman of the VoB, opened the summit where
Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and CEO of Mutual Trust Bank Ltd;
Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Securities and
Exchange Commission, also shared their views.
Presented by MTB and powered by Sajida Foundation, the
summit featured eight panel discussions on inflation and consumption, energy
infrastructure, forex matrix, RMG and manufacturing, agri-economics, banking
and finance, digital economy and ESG.
|Source: Online/SZK
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