Increase, expand product supply through TCB to outside Dhaka also: Debapriya

The government should increase supply of  products in fair price through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh to give a respite to the limited income people who are suffering from high cost of living, said economist Debapriya Bhattacharya.

"The number of products of TCB has to be increased and this supply should be expanded to different areas outside Dhaka," said Bhattacharya, who is the convenor of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesha nd distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

He was speaking at a briefing and review session on a study on  "What Impact will the pandemic have in SDG delivery in Bangladesh" organised by the Citizen's Platform for SDGs at Brac Centre Inn Dhaka today.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic started as health crisis, but swiftly evolved into a global humanitarian and socio-economic catastrophe. Bangladesh is no exception.

Relative to health shocks, socioeconomic repercussions are broad, he said.

"Impact on livelihood and wellbeing would be more protracted, magnifying existing inequalities."

He said economic, social and health issues – triple blow of Covid-19 – are threatening to rollback decades of SDG progress in Bangladesh and creating more hurdle for subsequent delivery.

Vulnerable groups exposed to disproportionate brunt are now risking of being further "left behind" and, in some cases, "pushed behind", he added while presenting the study.