Media Coverage
Promote labour intensive sectors to
cut poverty
Discussion on PRSP suggests
Source: The Daily Star Business Report
Speakers at a discussion yesterday called for promoting labour
intensive sectors like poultry, food processing, tea,
ship-breaking, jute and textile to help reduce poverty.
They suggested lowering interest rates on bank loans to 7
percent to give a boost to the country's private sector-led
economic growth.
The discussants also called for reducing corporate income tax
for backward linkage industries to 10 percent from existing 20
percent.
The suggestions came from economists, academics, public and
private sector officials and NGO activists at the discussion on
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
The General Economics Division of the Planning Commission,
assigned body for preparing the PRSP, organised the discussion
at the NEC auditorium in Dhaka.
Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman inaugurated the meeting. Prime
Minister's Principal Secretary Kamaluddin Siddiqui, also
convenor of the steering committee to advise Planning Commission
in preparing the PRSP, and Kazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed, member of the
commission, also spoke at the inaugural ceremony.
The discussion covered 13 areas, which include macro economics,
private sector development, infrastructure, good governance,
health, education, women and children, rural development,
agriculture, environment, water management, tribal and
underprivileged people and housing.
The discussants stressed the need for creating a contingency
fund for small ready made garment units to face post-MFA (multi-fibre
arrangement) challenges.
Suggestions also came up to reduce utility charges, such as gas
and electricity, by 50 percent for textile and export-oriented
garment industries.
The speakers sought withdrawal of import duties and taxes from
textile dyes, chemicals and sizing materials to increase
competitiveness of the industry.
Speedier goods handling and simplification of administrative
procedures in ports are needed for reduction of lead-time of
export, they added.
They suggested enhancing the capacity of revenue administration
and accelerating reforms according to recommendations of the
Revenue Reforms Commission.
The discussants also called for constituting a regulatory body
to monitor the activities of micro-credit providers.
They suggested massive privatisation in telephone sector and
drastic cut in phoneset prices and tariff rates of cell phones.
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