Worried about increasing poverty, not famine: Debapriya
About the global food harvest, he said Bangladesh is among the food vulnerable countries
Noted economist Debapriya Bhattacharya has said that he is not much worried about any prospective famine in upcoming months, rather his concerns are for the marginalised people amid a global economic downturn.
"Believe it or not, food inflation is higher in rural areas than urban cities. Now think about the rural farmers, who grow crops for us, are now facing higher food prices," he said at an event titled "State of Bangladesh Economy: An Outlook" organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) in Dhaka Sunday.
"I don't know about famine, but definitely we are talking about seeing more malnutrition, more poverty, and more rural poverty," Debapriya added.
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About the global food harvest, he said Bangladesh is among the food vulnerable countries. "But nonetheless, we could have really managed this."
Debapriya, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the disruption in the global supply situation is not only a concern for Bangladesh but also for the entire globe.
He said that there is no data and information to really manage the market right now. Specially, the food balance and fuel stock data lack transparency.
He believes the government needs to deal with market controlling mechanisms to thwart market syndicates.
"Commodity prices going up, … investment going down… this possibly is the perfect storm for a party going to election. We couldn't have had a much more difficult time," he added.
On the higher trade gap, he said Bangladesh had never seen this in its history.
About talks with the International Monetary Foundation (IMF) over a $4.5 billion prospective loan, he said it is obviously not a very glorified position.
"It is happening at a very inappropriate time. This is the point where you end up facing much higher prices for not doing things on time. This will be a big tragedy for this government."
Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, delivered the welcome speech at the event.
