The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt the country’s economy a blow unlike anything that has been experienced before, but it should give us all hope to see the resilience with which Bangladesh has faced all these unforeseen challenges. Bangladesh has performed better than India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and amid the disastrous year of 2020, we surpassed India’s per capita GDP according to IMF estimates.
Our goals right now are nothing if not ambitious, with a focus to shed the LDC tag by 2024, and many more goals further down the line. To meet these goals though, in a world where physical contact or travel between borders has been difficult at best, and impossible at worst, our payment systems must evolve.
To that end, it is wonderful to see the increased use of mobile financial services across the country -- more and more people are using MFS for groceries, online shopping, and utility bills. A country that not so long ago trusted nothing but cash is now finally modernizing its payment culture.
Now, the RMG sector, often referred to as the engine of Bangladesh’s economic growth, has embraced digital payments, and this is poised to be a game-changer for our economy. Payments can now be made on time, and money always reaches the right recipients unlike before. Furthermore, there are benefits that go beyond the financials, from decreasing hassle to decreasing the risk of Covid transmission.
Our decision to invest in digital payment technology was a wise one, and we must stay on this road. The pandemic has been bad for all of us, but we cannot deny that it has catalyzed some positive changes in society, and that is nothing if not a silver lining.
