Spend cautiously to avert fund crisis: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stresses belt-tightening to navigate global financial crisis as she asks for taking projects and spend public money cautiously in the current crunch time.
She notes that had Awami League not been in power now, there would have been fighting in the street for essential commodities, in the wake of both local and global price spirals.
In view of such hard reality, she ordered the Planning Commission not to approve less-priority projects rather seal only the priority and important ones.
Quoting the prime minister after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting Tuesday, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the premier not only instructed the public sector but also suggested the private sector to be frugal in spending foreign currency.
"We (govt) are not panicky but we are cautious. We will not reduce our allocations to the priority projects but will be cautious about approving less-priority schemes amid the ongoing crisis across the globe," the minister told reporters.
He made the remark when the journalists asked about government measures on austerity at this hour.
Bangladesh is struggling with higher import payments against lower export earnings and higher price of the US dollar on the money market and kerb market amid current-account deficit.
"No country in the world has adequate funds. Every country has a deficit of the budget like us (Bangladesh). So, we have to be always cautious," he adds.
"The PM asked us to go for cost-saving technique, slashing misuse," the Planning Minister told the press. "We may have to go for austerity but need not panic in spending."
Meanwhile, the PM at the NEC meeting backed the Padma railway-link project, criticizing those who are batting for scraping it from government's project list amid the global financial crisis.
"Since rail is the best transportation means for poor people across the country, so the project will continue," Mannan quoted her as saying.
A UNB report further quoted the Prime Minister as saying: "Since the Awami League government is in power, it has been possible to control (prices of essentials) to some extent. If anyone else were in power, there would have been fighting on the street."
Talking about the recent price hike of essentials, she said that the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war put pressure on global economy. There are some countries in Europe where prices of essentials have been hiked from 17 per cent to 50 per cent.
Hasina mentions that scarcity of edible oils is going on in countries like Germany and the UK, where restrictions have been imposed on buying oils more than one litre at a time.
Inflation, she says, has hit the US at more than 8 per cent and it will reach ten per cent.
The whole world is suffering from this.
"The impact of these will be visible also on us. The prices of imported items have increased. Cost of transportation (vessel rent) has increased, production decreased where the war is going on."
She again urged people to maintain austerity and control in using everything.
"If they do that, they might not face any problem," she observes. "The prices of essentials (at home) have increased due to the international factors, and this has to be conveyed to the people."
She says that her government is trying to increase production using the country's fertile land to meet the domestic demands.
"For that purpose, I called upon all not to leave a single inch of land without cultivation. We will produce our own food for us and help others. We have to motivate people that way," she says on a note of reassurance.
The meeting was held at the NEC auditorium while the premier joined virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.

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