The government had increased allocation for the Health Ministry in the proposed budget, but it was still too little to combat Covid-19 and did not specify details of expenditure of the allocated money, experts said.
Reacting to the budget for 2020-21 at a webinar organized by Unnayan Shamannay on Monday, they emphasized that the budget was not suited to fight against the pandemic.
Dr Atiur Rahman, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, presented the keynote paper at the webinar.
Panelist Prof Enamul Haque, of the department of economics at East West University, said : “Tk10,000 crore has been allocated to fight against Covid-19 but it was not said how it would be spent.”
“If we are to achieve herd immunity, 70% of the population have to be infected, while 12 crore people need to be tested and treated. Private and public hospitals have to come under a single umbrella. The government has to bear the cost. But these issues have not been outlined in the budget,” he said.
“A Covid-19 test costs Tk3,500. If Tk10,000 crore is distributed to 12 crore people, everyone will get only Tk600. It is too little to fight against Covid-19, or to even conduct a single test,” Enamul added.
“Tk60,000-Tk70,000 crore is needed [at the least] to fight against Covid-19,” he added.
Zulfiqar Ali, a senior research fellow at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said: “The government is appointing doctors and increasing salaries. The allocation was increased according to that … Hence, it is inadequate.”
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed raising the allocation for the health services to Tk29,247 crore in the next fiscal year to deal with the impact of the coronavirus.
The figure is a 23% increase from the revised allocation of Tk23,692 crore for the outgoing 2019-20 fiscal year.
To meet emergency requirements of the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, the finance minister has proposed setting aside another Tk 10,000 crore.
Zulfiqar Ali noted: “Private hospitals have the capacity to treat two-thirds of the population. Private hospitals were needed in the process of fighting against Covid-19 from the very beginning.”
“Allocation has to be made and expended properly to include private hospitals in the battle,” he said.
Dr Atiur Rahman, who is chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay, discussed health, education, safety net programs, taxation and monetary issues relating to the budget in his keynote remarks.
He said: “We should not think about growth and inflation. We should think about how we will survive the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“It is not necessary to think about budget deficits now. The budget should emphasize important sectors,” he said.
He laid stress on the sale of bonds to expatriates, refinancing by the central bank at zero interest rate, and loans from foreign sources to meet the deficit.
Extra care needed for char dwellers and the poor
Demanding an increase in allocation for char dwellers, Atiur said: “30% of char dwellers are poor when the country’s national poverty rate is 20%. Extreme poverty is also higher in the char areas.”
“People who went back to the char areas cannot go out due to the lockdown. They have no work and no income. We have to think of them … They need extra care. Allocation should be increased in social safety net programs,” he added.
Zulfiqar Ali said: “It is estimated that the national poverty rate may rise to 30% in the country. But it cannot be predicted now. We have to conduct an assessment when we tide over Covid-19.”
“Poverty rate may increase to 30%-40%, even 50%, in the country as the middle class will become poor after losing their jobs,” he said.
