Muhith clueless about data on jobless growth

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday described the data on jobless growth in the country as an enigma, claiming that many sectors are still facing difficulty in hiring workers.
Sectors like agriculture find it hard to employ labourers to cultivate crops, he said on Sunday.
Mr Muhith felt that people were somehow busy doing other jobs.
His observation came in the backdrop of official statistics that the growth of employment in recent years declined despite a robust economic growth.
A jobless growth is an economic phenomenon in which a macroeconomy experiences growth but level of employment either remains static or records decline.
"It's an enigma… a matter of thinking. Is the jobless growth really taking place?" Mr Muhith wondered.
The minister was talking to reporters after emerging from a policy breakfast discussion on 'Budgeting for the Future: Youth Skills and Employment'.
The Institute of Informatics and Development (IID) and the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka jointly organised the event at a city hotel.
Mr Muhith suggested that local think tanks hold debates to find reasons and put forward recommendations to help the government overcome the challenge.
Other discussants at the programme called for structural economic reforms as high economic growth did not create enough employment in the country.
They called for streamlining service sector, as manufacturing sector will no more be a major generator of jobs in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.
Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of a leading think-tank Policy Research Institute, said economy largely depends on manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
But the number of workers in clothing industry is shrinking steadily for increasing use of AI (artificial intelligence) tools in production unit, he added.
Mr Mansur said the same development holds true for the agriculture sector, as mechanisation drives manual labourers out of crop production.
"So, where do we go? Service sector is the option, he said, adding but it is still an informal one here. If we can transform it to a formal one, it will be a major achievement," he noted.
Mr Mansur suggested identifying specific areas where the country has opportunities and chalk up a plan to harness the potential.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the country imports human capital by spending a lot due to the growing mismatch in skill level of manpower.
To this end, she presented three suggestions -- enhanced investment in education, strengthening skill development acts and access to finance for start-ups.
About diversification to cope with economic reforms from agriculture to manufacture to service, the economist said the country should look for non-traditional markets where ageing population is rising.
State minister for finance and planning MA Mannan said the government set up some funds to ensure access to finance for people having good investment ideas.
"But no money was spent," he mentioned.
He said the country's waged workers are not unemployed. A group of people like to have 'white collar' jobs, which offer big pension facility.
"It (such jobs) involves more money with doing nothing in the office in most of the time. Such jobs are slowly dying out," he added.
Canadian High Commissioner Benoit Prefontaine and senior economist Dr Ashikur Rahman, among others, also spoke at the event.
Meanwhile, Mr Muhith at a separate function in Dhaka on Sunday said development partners' cooperation extended to Bangladesh centring Rohingya issue is a sort of pressure on Myanmar to take back its nationals.
"It's very important that the whole world is with us on Rohingya issue. I also feel that this is a great deal of pressure on 'Burma' to change its stance," he added.
Mr Muhith was talking to journalists at his secretariat office after a meeting with country director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Manmohan Parkash.
Just two days ago, the ADB has approved a $100 million grant to help develop basic infrastructure and services for the Rohingya staying here.
This is the first instalment of the $200 million grant package.
The next portion may come by next fiscal year (FY).
Mr Muhith expressed gratitude to the ADB for the 'good gesture they have shown to Bangladesh'.
He said the trend of disbursement of ADB loans and grants was very strong.
The disbursement will be even stronger next year, he said, referring to his talks with Mr Parkash.
In the FY 2017-18, Mr Muhith said, ADB's loan disbursement reached $1.2 billion. The disbursement may stand at $2.0 billion this FY.
Mr Parkash told the media that public welfare comes as first priority to the ADB as a development partner.
He said the ADB has no separate window, like the World Bank has, to provide grants in such a situation.
For a quick response from ADB donors, it could arrange $100 million to aid Rohingya within two months of an appeal made by the Bangladesh government, he added.
Mr Parkash said another $100 million will be given to help the refugees through a project which is underway.

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