Women’s domestic work to be added to GDP from next FY

The government will include women's household work in its GDP calculation from the next financial year and an action plan in this regard will be prepared very soon, said Planning Minister MA Mannan on Tuesday.

"The prime minister has stressed the importance of including the value of women's domestic work, which has traditionally been undervalued, in the calculation of GDP. She had previously instructed the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council [Ecnec] on 4 March to take action in this regard," he told reporters at a press conference after an Ecnec meeting.

The minister said the prime minister has defined women's domestic work as a job that involves no fixed working hours, no breaks, no vacations, no wages, and no retirement benefits.

State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam said the calculation of GDP in our country follows the international model, using the national system of accounts of the United Nations Statistical Commission. Although this system is used worldwide, it does not account for the value of women's household work.

"Women's household work is not valued financially even though it is productive work. This is because it is not exchanged in the market. If there is no market exchange, its value cannot be calculated."

He noted that many experts believe it is feasible to evaluate women's household work by calculating its market value, which could then be included in calculating GDP. However, it will be a shadow evaluation.

The Ecnec meeting approved 11 projects involving a total expenditure of Tk13,656 crore. Development partners will be contributing Tk10,526 crore to these projects.

Meanwhile, the state minister for planning said the prime minister has ordered a reduction in the number of consultants appointed for different development projects.

In this context, Planning Minister Mannan said in the case of soft loan projects funded by organisations like the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank, consulting agencies need to be selected on the basis of the requirements of the development partners.

"Even if we do not agree, we still have to appoint the consultants. But this trend is gradually changing, and the cost of consulting services has significantly decreased compared to that five years ago," he said.

He also mentioned that the prime minister had pointed out that Bangladeshi engineers have acquired a wide range of skills, and questioned the need to spend a large sum of money on hiring foreign consultants.

According to officials at the Planning Commission, the cost of consultancy services for projects funded by development partners ranges from Tk400 crore to Tk500 crore.

At the Ecnec meeting the prime minister instructed a prioritising of activities related to the blue economy, the planning minister said.
Mannan mentioned that the prime minister has given instructions on a gradual withdrawal from the use of sluice gates. She expressed her frustration over the non-functionality of many sluice gates that had been constructed in various areas of the country.

The prime minister also said permanent roads should not be constructed in Haor areas. Instead, the local government minister was directed to build culverts in place of roads where water pressure is high.

Furthermore, the prime minister urged swift action on providing technical education or training to children in orphanages.