BBS takes Tk 186.53m project to do 5 surveys

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has undertaken a project involving Tk186.53 million to conduct five surveys on industry and service-sectors, parallel to its ongoing Tk5.8 billion economic census aimed at collecting detailed data on all non-agricultural economic units across the country.
The surveys will be conducted on manufacturing industries, cottage industries, wholesale and retail trade services, hotel and restaurant services, and an updated business directory for Bangladesh, which were previously managed under BBS's revenue budget.
The Ministry of Planning recently approved the project, titled "Survey on Selected Industries and Service Sector Statistics (SSISS)," proposed by the Statistics and Informatics Division (SID).
The BBS has set a deadline to implement the project by December 2027.
Meanwhile, economists and experts have raised a question about the rationale behind conducting separate surveys on various sub-sectors of industry and services while a nationwide economic census is already in progress.
They also questioned the necessity of initiating a dedicated project for surveys that are traditionally carried out under the revenue budget.
Document revealed that Tk8.2 million, 4.4 per cent of the total project cost, will be spent for honorarium and entertainment while Tk5.04 million, 2.70 per cent of the total cost, has been allocated for vehicle rent for 36 months, Tk1.4 lakh in each month.
The BBS will spend about 5 per cent of the project cost for seminar, venue rent, promotion and advertising. Highest Tk87.74 million, over 47 per cent of the cost, will go for travel and transportation. Another Tk25.54 million, around 14 per cent of the project cost, has been earmarked for training.
Consultants and software components will receive about Tk 10 million of the project cost.
Main component of the activities "Survey" will receive Tk9.21 million, only 4.94 per cent of the project cost.
Projects are being prioritised under the revenue budget to take advantage of increased spending opportunities in areas such as vehicles, transportation, and procurement, said a former high official of the BBS.
Sources indicated that officials of the Planning Commission during the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting recommended that BBS conduct the survey work under the project through the revenue budget.
In response, SID noted that BBS has already initiated efforts to institutionalise its various survey activities, ensuring their regular management under the revolving budget.
Furthermore, BBS officials assured in the meeting that upon successful implementation of the proposed project, the surveys outlined in the project will be institutionalised and routinely managed under the revenue budget.
The Planning Commission has expressed concern that the new project may overlap with the ongoing economic census project in terms of objectives and activities, urging caution in this regard.
In response, the Bureau of Statistics clarified that, in line with the United Nations' International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), distinct industrial classifications are applied to the production, wholesale and retail trade, and hotel and restaurant sectors.
The survey will be conducted to compile and release updated statistics for these sectors.
Meanwhile, the economic census will classify institutions according to ISIC and determine the number of establishments and institutions involved in economic activities, the workforce employed, and the legal status of these institutions.
Officials said that the BBS conducted last "Hotel and Restaurant Survey" in 2021. The latest Wholesale and Retail Trade Survey was conducted in 2020 and survey on Manufacturing Industries was conducted in 2019.
Officials concerned said that the cost of conducting each survey ranges between Tk10 million and Tk20 million. Therefore, it is unlikely that the total expenditure for five surveys will surpass Tk100 million.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, director general of the BBS, told the FE that the project has been initiated to conduct some important surveys through an integrated process.
He said that although these surveys were part of the revenue budget previously, they were not conducted regularly. He explained that the surveys have now been incorporated into the project due to their recognised importance.
He further noted that while the economic census project collects data from all economic units nationwide, it does not gather complete data for many indicators.
In contrast, under the new project, detailed data will be collected from a limited number of institutions, with assures that there will be no overlapping or duplication of efforts between the two projects.
The aim of conducting surveys is more important than the sources of funding of survey, said Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the Dhaka office of the World Bank. He said that survey is important if findings of the survey help strengthening policy rather than releasing of information.
He said that the regular survey like vital statistics, labour force survey and household income and expenditure survey should be conducted through revenue budget.
"Projects for regular activities incur additional spending like decoration for PD office, vehicles for project officials, consultancies and purchases," he said.

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