'Increase public spending for quick recovery from pandemic'

The governments should increase the spending in the economy for quick recovery from the fallouts of Covid-19 as some countries have been enjoying the benefit of increased public spending, said an economist on Saturday.

For instance, Brazil has spent a lot of public money during the pandemic and its economy is recovering faster compared to other Latin American countries (LAC), said Martin Rama, chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean region of the World Bank (WB).

He also suggested for diversification in the global value chain and reform in tax system for the recovery of the economy from the fallouts of the Covid-19.

However, Bangladesh needs a perfect registry process of people so that they can get the real benefit of the public spending in stimulus and social safety protection, said David Hulme, a professor of development studies of the University of Manchester of the UK.

"I would like to see Bangladesh spends more for recovery from the fallouts of the Covid-19," said Hulme.

He also said although the global recovery will take place from the fallouts of the Covid-19, but the inequality will grow worldwide, Hulme also said.

Both Martin and Hulme were speaking at the concluding session on "Covid-19 Recovery: Contexts and Priorities – Developing Countries' Perspective" at the three-day long second SANEM Development Conference (SIDC) 2021.

The South Asian Network for Economic Modeling (SANEM) organsied the online discussion. 

Selim Raihan, executive director of the SANEM, moderated the discussion at the concluding session.