![]() ![]() "The government could have reassessed the situation before drastically increasing the price of diesel and kerosene at this period when the economy is still recovering from the lockdowns," said Ahmed. ![]() The government even recently hiked the price of fuel by 23%, which further increased the price of public transport, irrigation and other living costs.īoth economists agree that the price hikes could badly impact people's financial recovery. The price of consumer goods such as rice, vegetable oil and lentils, has increased in recent months in Bangladesh after the second lockdown was relaxed in August this year. "Some people who became poor because of the closures of some industries during the lockdowns haven't been able to recover yet," she added. As lockdowns are over, even informal sectors are growing again," Ahmed told DW. "Poor communities who were hit hard by COVID-19 lockdowns are gradually recovering. "It's hard to say exactly how many people have become poor due to the COVID-19 lockdowns," she added. "It is not a census, it's a survey of a small number of people, and the data found from it was blown up to find a national projection," she told DW. However, she has doubts about the estimated figure published in the survey. Nazneen Ahmed, the country economist of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), agrees that COVID-19 has hit poor communities hard. However, while experts agree that the level of poverty has risen substantially in the last year, some say that the survey is too limited to offer an accurate picture of the new economic situation in Bangladesh. "Ordinary people who suffered financially due to the lockdowns are losing their capacity to cope, which leaves a large number of people in risky situations," the economist stressed. "We found that the livelihood of many people had been gradually recovering after Bangladesh was severely hit by the first lockdown in April 2020, but the latest lockdown that was imposed earlier this year has reversed the recovery trend," he told DW. Hossain Zillur Rahman, the executive chairman of PPRC, said the estimation that 19.54% of Bangladesh's population has been pushed into poverty was determined by extrapolating the results of the survey of households on a national level. Many have switched occupations, often finding whatever they could for survival, creating a risk of shifting to worse jobs," the survey stated. ![]() "Income and employment uncertainties over 18 months gave rise to several vulnerabilities. The study found that income dropped by 18% in slums and by 15% in villages from the levels in March this year, a period when the economy had largely recovered from the first lockdown at the start of the pandemic. "Two-thirds of the households in this group were in poverty as of August this year." "Rural and urban slum households who were vulnerable before COVID-19 remain the most affected population group," the survey said. It was conducted between April 2020 and August 2021 by the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) to evaluate health and economic crises among low-income communities due to COVID-19. The multiphase livelihood survey included around 5,000 households across the country. Critics say that the stark increase in poverty in the country is due to a lack of government response to the economic crisis brought by the pandemic and a spike in fuel prices.
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