Economy's vulnerabilities a major challenge

When the overall economic activities are on track, employment increases a little and the poverty rate also goes down a bit. Besides, thanks to the improvement in transportation and communication infrastructures, businesses especially in the transportation system of agricultural products have gained momentum. In short, poverty rates have decreased in recent times due to increased accessibility.

But the problem is the number of non-poor people who are very close to the poverty line in our country is very high. When there is a crisis, all these people go below the poverty line. It is a big problem that this number of vulnerable people is not taken into account while calculating our poverty rates.

Addressing the vulnerability of the economy has become a major challenge. At the same time, new challenges are rising due to the increasing rate of discrimination.

A decrease in the poverty rate means the economic situation of some people has somewhat improved. They could not eat regular food before, but now they can. Their caloric intake has gone to a certain level as they can eat the necessary food.

Overall the standard of living of this class has not improved much. There is also no room for complacency when it comes to the data on the reduction of poverty rates.

A large part of the GDP growth is going into the hands of an influential group including the wealthy. To ensure sustainable development, growth also needs a balanced structure. This is not possible without major changes in economic strategy.

To increase the contribution of the poor and middle class to the economy, their productivity must increase. Ensuring appropriate education and skills will increase their productivity as well as income when young people enter the labour market.

And to ensure this, the government should increase its investment in the education, health and human resource development sectors. But the problem is the government's investments in our education and health sectors have been much less than the requirement for decades.

TBS Senior Reporter Jahidul Islam interviewed Dr Salehuddin Ahmed over the phone.