'Employment guarantee scheme' won't fuel local inflation: Aziz
FE Report | Friday, 11 July 2008
Finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said Thursday the newly introduced "employment guarantee scheme" will not fuel inflation and affect labour market.
"It is a relatively a small country and by now transportation and communication links between different regions have improved considerably. If there is certain price hike in particular locality, there will be a tendency for movement of goods from other areas into the place where the prices are high. So, I am not concerned about the localised inflation," he said in response to remarks made by the discussants at a policy workshop in the city.
"Normal labour market should not be affected as we have kept the wages level (under the scheme) lower than the normal ones. No place in Bangladesh I could find wage is below Tk 120 per day. So, it will not hamper normal labour market," Mr. Islam said referring to the draft guidelines for implementation of the "employment guaranty scheme".
The finance adviser was speaking at the workshop titled"100 Days of Employment Guaranty Generation: Implementation Opportunities and Challenges" in the city.
The Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), a local research organisation, organised the workshop with the support of the World Bank.
Moderated by lead economist of the World Bank Kaiser M Khan, commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, managing director of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Qazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed, additional secretary of the finance ministry Mahbub Ahmed, chairman of the Unnayan Samunnay Dr Atiur Rahman and deputy managing director of the Grameen Bank Dipal Chandra Barua spoke on the occasion.
Following the internal and external shocks on the national economy, the government has introduced the Employment Guarantee Scheme and allocated Tk 20.0 billion worth of fund in the current year's budget. Under the scheme, some 2.0 million poor people will get job for 100 days in the lean season when the people do not normally have employment.
About the nature of job under the scheme, the finance adviser said: "A number of areas including preparation of seed beds on the government land, development of irrigation infrastructure, construction and maintenance of rural roads will be brought under the scheme
"It is a relatively a small country and by now transportation and communication links between different regions have improved considerably. If there is certain price hike in particular locality, there will be a tendency for movement of goods from other areas into the place where the prices are high. So, I am not concerned about the localised inflation," he said in response to remarks made by the discussants at a policy workshop in the city.
"Normal labour market should not be affected as we have kept the wages level (under the scheme) lower than the normal ones. No place in Bangladesh I could find wage is below Tk 120 per day. So, it will not hamper normal labour market," Mr. Islam said referring to the draft guidelines for implementation of the "employment guaranty scheme".
The finance adviser was speaking at the workshop titled"100 Days of Employment Guaranty Generation: Implementation Opportunities and Challenges" in the city.
The Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), a local research organisation, organised the workshop with the support of the World Bank.
Moderated by lead economist of the World Bank Kaiser M Khan, commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, managing director of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Qazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed, additional secretary of the finance ministry Mahbub Ahmed, chairman of the Unnayan Samunnay Dr Atiur Rahman and deputy managing director of the Grameen Bank Dipal Chandra Barua spoke on the occasion.
Following the internal and external shocks on the national economy, the government has introduced the Employment Guarantee Scheme and allocated Tk 20.0 billion worth of fund in the current year's budget. Under the scheme, some 2.0 million poor people will get job for 100 days in the lean season when the people do not normally have employment.
About the nature of job under the scheme, the finance adviser said: "A number of areas including preparation of seed beds on the government land, development of irrigation infrastructure, construction and maintenance of rural roads will be brought under the scheme