Interim Govt's Taskforce Prescribes Remedies For Crises, A Two-Year Strategy To Address Economic Ills Underway

A comprehensive crash programme is being designed to address mounting economic vulnerabilities such as persistent inflation, rising unemployment, falling household incomes, deepening poverty, and weak financial and institutional governance.

Officials said the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission will execute the two-year short-term strategy, based on recommendations from a taskforce formed by the interim government to devise a socioeconomic rescue plan.

The strategy will focus on six core areas: macroeconomic management and poverty reduction; agriculture; social sectors including health, education, and social protection; industry and trade; physical infrastructure covering transport, communications, and ICT; and governance reforms.

Following the expiry of the Eighth Five-Year Plan last June, the GED initiated this move to ensure policy continuity. It drew upon proposals from the taskforce on Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilising Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development, chaired by former BIDS director-general Dr KAS Murshid.

The initiative will also conclude a 15-year cycle of medium-term planning in Bangladesh, which spanned three consecutive five-year plans starting in FY2010–11.

To support implementation, the Planning Division has submitted a Tk 110.36-million project proposal to the Planning Commission. The project will guide policy formulation, oversee execution of the taskforce report, and align the revised economic strategy with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will also prepare the SDG Progress Report 2026 and establish three pilot SDG villages.

The Socioeconomic Infrastructure Division has scheduled a Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting for Sunday to examine the proposal. Officials are expected to question the high consultancy and survey expenses, which account for nearly 46 per cent of the total budget. However, approval is considered likely as the project cost falls well below the Tk 500-million threshold set by Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud.

According to the proposal, the project seeks to revise economic strategies for sustainable development while boosting growth through effective planning. It cites data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the World Bank highlighting entrenched inequalities in income, resources, and opportunities.

The Gini coefficient of income inequality rose to 0.499 in 2022 from 0.458 in 2010, while expenditure inequality increased from 0.321 to 0.334 during the same period. “This indicates that disparities in wealth, opportunities, and access remain entrenched,” the proposal notes.

The World Bank’s 2024 Macro Poverty Outlook warns that nearly 3 million people could slip into extreme poverty in FY2024–25, living on less than $2.15 per day (PPP). In the first half of the fiscal year, 4 per cent of workers lost jobs, while wages fell 2 per cent for low-skilled workers and 0.5 per cent for high-skilled ones. As a result, the extreme-poverty rate may have climbed to 9.3 per cent in FY2024–25, up from 7.7 per cent the previous year.

The report further cautions that inequality is likely to widen while GDP growth slows, despite modest improvements following the interim government’s post-uprising measures.

The 12-member taskforce has recommended immediate action in macroeconomic management, poverty reduction, agriculture, social services, trade and industry, infrastructure, and governance reforms. The short-term economic strategy, now under preparation, is based on these priorities.

As part of the plan, six cluster-based programmes will be developed, backed by short-term studies and surveys to fill data gaps. Six sectoral advisory committees and a technical committee chaired by the planning adviser will oversee implementation, ensuring recommendations are integrated into background studies.

The project also provides for high-level overseas training for 10 government officials, likely in Singapore or another suitable country.

Taskforce chairman Dr KAS Murshid welcomed adoption of some of its proposals but stressed the need for parallel initiatives in urban health, education, and social services alongside rural pilots like the SDG villages. “Urban challenges are more complex, and the government should have acted there as well,” he told FE.

He also warned that delays in approval and execution could stall the new strategy: “Immediate measures are needed to revive the economy.”

A senior GED official said the strategy review aims to evaluate the economy’s current trajectory and act as a bridge between the Eighth Five-Year Plan and future national planning.