Mannan challenges surveys showing people too poor to buy fish, meat  

Planning Minister MA Mannan has commented that meat and fish prices were never out of the reach of the poor in recent years, as he binned surveys suggesting that the poor have excluded fish and meat from the menu amid rising prices.

"I'm challenging the narrative. The prices were never out of reach in the past 10-15 years. Even more meat and fish are now coming to the market. If they are unable to buy the protein, then who is consuming it," the minister said at a roundtable in Dhaka on Saturday.       
Referring to a series of surveys on readymade garment workers, the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) recently said low-income people are being compelled to exclude fish and meat from their menu thanks to rising food prices.

However, the planning said it could be that low-income people have switched to cheap pangasius from pricy koi and broiler from locally grown chicken, but it is not true that they are not consuming protein.

"In every country, people at the very bottom [in terms of income] cannot afford protein. Even that happens in the United States and Switzerland. They buy the groceries from the small market next to the big malls at a lower price," claimed Mannan.     

At the roundtable titled "Bangladesh Economy: Crisis and Conspiracy" and organised by the Editors Guild, Bangladesh, the planning minister said, "The poor and low-income people are now consuming more fish and meat than ever before."

The minister called for defining the country's middle-class first before outlining the economic conditions.  

"I think we have an emotional attitude towards the middle-class like: they neither can queue up for subsidised food nor ask for help from anyone either. This is not an economic solution. If standing in the TCB line [queues for subsidised food] feels like an insult, then it is not an economic issue," he added. 

Mannan said the government is making arrangements for the low-income people after identifying them. But the middle-class still remains unidentified.

"Banks are making profits. Then why should we take responsibility if they fail," the minister questioned, as he talked about mixing up political economy and real economy. 

At the programme, former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin said no bank was closed in the last 51 years of independence.  

Amid talks about cash liquidity in the banking channel, the former governor said, "Bangladesh needs federal insurance like the United States. Besides, there needs to be a clear demarcation between commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions."

Ahsan H. Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh, said deposits in Bangladesh have never lost their everything to any financial service providers. 

Editors Guild, Bangladesh President Mozammel Babu moderated the event.  

Nazneen Ahmed, country economist of the UNDP Bangladesh; Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA); and Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, managing director and CEO of the Shahjalal Islami Bank, also spoke at the programme.