Government's stimulus package

The stimulus package announced by the government to help absorb the knock-on effects global economic meltdown is a welcome step that could not have come a day later although not all affected sectors would receive cash incentive in the current plan.
In going about planning the utilisation and implementation of the allocation what should be kept in mind is that the fund is meant for the current fiscal year of which only three months are left. Hence, the time is of essence here to reach the whole amount to the targeted sectors in order to derive maximum benefit. And when time is the crunch, our experience shows that haste may result in injudicious use of the money. We suggest that the government devise a mechanism of sorts that would eliminate such a possibility. The issue, therefore, is accelerated and appropriate disbursement of funds.
We feel that the allocations of Tk 450 crore for cash subsidies to exporters, Tk 1,500 crore to agriculture, Tk 600 crore to power sector, Tk 500 crore as agriculture loan, and Tk 374 crore to social security are well balanced. We welcome the fact that the two largest chunks of the incentive have gone to agriculture and power as they should. Also, the three hard-hit sectors like frozen foods, jute and leather have been taken care of.
The garment and knitwear sector may feel unhappy at being left out of the cash support package. We, however, understand that the option for a bailout for the sector has not been discarded altogether, and there is time yet, and should the sector as a whole suffer a negative growth in future, we are certain that the government would come up with similar measures to help it tide over the slump.
We note that a measure of policy incentive has been given to the garment sector. We endorse the request of the garment and textile sector for greater policy support. That would to great extent help the sector offset the effects of the current global recession.
However, there is one area that the government has left out from the package plan. There is a need to urgently set aside adequate funds to rehabilitate the retrenched migrant workers returning home. We hope that the government will seriously consider this matter.