Selim Raihan

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented rise in poverty in Bangladesh in a very short time span.

As the Covid-19 pandemic left a deep dent on the development trajectories of Bangladesh, the country must set its development priorities right in 2021. Bangladesh aims to achieve the stiff Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, and it aspires to become an upper-middle-income country by 2031.

Covid-19 has generated hugely distressing effects on the economy of Bangladesh.

Covid-19 has brought about an unprecedented crisis in human history in terms of its dimension and scale.

The Covid-19 induced economic crisis has affected the export and import of Bangladesh by large margins. The economic crisis has been exacerbated by the closure or limited operation of businesses during the lockdown at home and abroad.

The fundamental objective of the budget for the next financial year (FY21) should have been to resolve the unparalleled health and economic threats raised by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to restore economic stability. Though the budget has acknowledged the context, it falls short to be a Covid-19 responsive budget.

The economic crisis caused by Covid-19 is deepening in Bangladesh every day.

The effects of Covid-19 on the national economies and the global economy are going to be unprecedented.

The Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (SDGs) are some ambitious development objectives with a total of 17 goals with 169 targets spanning economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

There are two contrasting contexts as far as the competitiveness of Bangladesh economy is concerned. On the one hand, the economic growth rate in Bangladesh has been increasing since 2013;

“Policy paralysis” can be described as a situation where critically important laws and reforms are not undertaken or, even if undertaken, not implemented as a result of a lack

There have been four waves of industrial revolution so far in the history of mankind. The first industrial revolution (from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteen century) took place in Europe and the United States. Dr Selim Raihan is Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Executive Director, South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). Email: selim.raihan@econdu.ac.bd

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Economic growth with the reduction in poverty and inequality are important development objectives in the policymaking process in Bangladesh.

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Today, there are six major macroeconomic challenges for Bangladesh's economy. First, accelerating economic growth and maintaining high economic growth over the coming years will remain a big challenge.

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