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Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Different Groups of Peoples in South Asia: Evidence from Bangladesh

Received: 1 February 2022    Accepted: 21 February 2022    Published: 28 February 2022
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Abstract

Within a couple of months, COVID-19 has evolved as an economic catastrophe beyond health cataclysm that was initially thought. It is already forewarned as to the deepest global recession since World War II. Bangladesh that represents the emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) has suddenly fallen into a deep economic hole although unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic related to health, macroeconomic and social effects are on equal focus. World Bank, in its June 2020 estimation, has revised Bangladesh’s growth downward to 1.6 percent in FY2020 whilst Bangladesh achieved average GDP growth of 6.5% since 2004 and generally, the labor-oriented service sector contributes about 50% to this growth. It is estimated that the national (upper) poverty rate from 24.3 percent in 2016 already increased to 35 percent in 2020. Declining demands, as well as supply disruptions, have weighed significantly on exports, especially exports of textiles and clothing products. Banking sectors are in potential risk due to the increase of Non-Performing Loan (NPL) which are mostly associated with the RMG industry and its backward linkage industries. On the other hand, the RMG sector has started to suffer from both cancellations of order and supply chain interruption alongside hamper in production due to lockdown. Slower loan recovery rate is also a cause of greater headache of the banking sector in this pandemic period. 85% of the total employment of the country belongs to informal sectors. A sharp fall in overall consumption led to decline in overall trade as well decline in production except for foods and medical items. SMEs have seen revenue drop by at least 50%, while 52% of SMEs have locks hung over their businesses generating no revenue at all. These all will create a large spillover effect on the state economy. To build quick resilience, some fiscal measures have been taken by the government of Bangladesh. IMF, ADB, and World Bank promised to support US$730 million, US$ 600 million, and US$100 million respectively to increase social safety net. To build more and sustainable resilience, a number of interventions to be considered such as immediate access to capital and technology by small, medium, and regional clustered enterprises; proper guideline and financial support to forced migrant laborers, utmost attempt to collect the demographic dividend and more. The study stands for composition analyses of secondary data proceedings and literature on the previous pandemic.

Published in Journal of Health and Environmental Research (Volume 8, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17
Page(s) 43-46
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Economic Impacts, Social Groups, COVID-19, South Asia, Bangladesh

References
[1] Global Recovery Strong but Uneven as Many Developing Countries Struggle with the pandemic’s Lasting Effects, 2021. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/06/08/world-bank-global-economic-prospects-2021.
[2] Muhammad Mahmood, 2020. COVID-19: Economic challenges facing Bangladesh. https://www.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/COVID-19-economic-challenges-facing-bangladesh-1592064588.
[3] Helping Bangladesh Recover from COVID-19, 2020. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/06/11/na-06122020-helping-bangladesh-recover-from-COVID-19.
[4] Akter M., Sarker M. M. R., Nishat N. I., 2021. Social and Environmental Impacts of COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Journal of Health and Environmental Research. ISSN Print: 2472-3584; ISSN Online: 2472-3592.
[5] UNESCAP, 2020. Webinar on Impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and way forward. https://www.unescap.org/events/webinar-impact-COVID-19-bangladesh-s-ldc-graduation-and-way-forward.
[6] Tapash Chandra paul, 2020. COVID-19 and its impact on Bangladesh economy. https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/Views/COVID-19-And-Its-Impact-On-Bangladesh-Economy-1592580397.
[7] UNICEF, 2020. COVID-19: Impact on ready-made garment workers in Bangladesh, https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/reports/COVID-19.
[8] ADB (Asian Development Bank) 2020, The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Enterprises in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: An Initial Assessment 1. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/613466/adb-brief-141-impact-COVID-19-tourism-lao-pdr.pdf.
[9] MMR Sarker, AN Fagun, 2021. International Journal of Agricultural Economics 6 (1), 47, COVID-19, Food Security, Food Prices and Urban-rural Interrelationship for Sustainable Food and Nutritional Security: A Study on Dhaka City.
[10] MMR Sarker, Social Science & Medicine 74 (8), 1232-1239, An Empirical Study on Impact of COVID-19 on Mobile Financial Service and Saving Practices: The Case of Bangladesh. International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
[11] MMR Sarker, Nazneen Islam Nishat, Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin, Anika Nawar Fagun. Determinants of Fertility Trend at District, Divisional and Regional Levels and Policy Implication for Poverty Alleviation. International Journal of Health Economics and Policy. Vol. 6, No. 3, 2021, pp. 92-99. doi: 10.11648/j.hep.20210603.13.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    M. Mizanur Rahman Sarker, Maruf Khan, Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin, Shaila Islam. (2022). Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Different Groups of Peoples in South Asia: Evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Health and Environmental Research, 8(1), 43-46. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17

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    ACS Style

    M. Mizanur Rahman Sarker; Maruf Khan; Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin; Shaila Islam. Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Different Groups of Peoples in South Asia: Evidence from Bangladesh. J. Health Environ. Res. 2022, 8(1), 43-46. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17

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    AMA Style

    M. Mizanur Rahman Sarker, Maruf Khan, Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin, Shaila Islam. Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Different Groups of Peoples in South Asia: Evidence from Bangladesh. J Health Environ Res. 2022;8(1):43-46. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17,
      author = {M. Mizanur Rahman Sarker and Maruf Khan and Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin and Shaila Islam},
      title = {Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Different Groups of Peoples in South Asia: Evidence from Bangladesh},
      journal = {Journal of Health and Environmental Research},
      volume = {8},
      number = {1},
      pages = {43-46},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jher.20220801.17},
      abstract = {Within a couple of months, COVID-19 has evolved as an economic catastrophe beyond health cataclysm that was initially thought. It is already forewarned as to the deepest global recession since World War II. Bangladesh that represents the emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) has suddenly fallen into a deep economic hole although unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic related to health, macroeconomic and social effects are on equal focus. World Bank, in its June 2020 estimation, has revised Bangladesh’s growth downward to 1.6 percent in FY2020 whilst Bangladesh achieved average GDP growth of 6.5% since 2004 and generally, the labor-oriented service sector contributes about 50% to this growth. It is estimated that the national (upper) poverty rate from 24.3 percent in 2016 already increased to 35 percent in 2020. Declining demands, as well as supply disruptions, have weighed significantly on exports, especially exports of textiles and clothing products. Banking sectors are in potential risk due to the increase of Non-Performing Loan (NPL) which are mostly associated with the RMG industry and its backward linkage industries. On the other hand, the RMG sector has started to suffer from both cancellations of order and supply chain interruption alongside hamper in production due to lockdown. Slower loan recovery rate is also a cause of greater headache of the banking sector in this pandemic period. 85% of the total employment of the country belongs to informal sectors. A sharp fall in overall consumption led to decline in overall trade as well decline in production except for foods and medical items. SMEs have seen revenue drop by at least 50%, while 52% of SMEs have locks hung over their businesses generating no revenue at all. These all will create a large spillover effect on the state economy. To build quick resilience, some fiscal measures have been taken by the government of Bangladesh. IMF, ADB, and World Bank promised to support US$730 million, US$ 600 million, and US$100 million respectively to increase social safety net. To build more and sustainable resilience, a number of interventions to be considered such as immediate access to capital and technology by small, medium, and regional clustered enterprises; proper guideline and financial support to forced migrant laborers, utmost attempt to collect the demographic dividend and more. The study stands for composition analyses of secondary data proceedings and literature on the previous pandemic.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
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    AU  - M. Mizanur Rahman Sarker
    AU  - Maruf Khan
    AU  - Mosammod Mahamuda Parvin
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17
    T2  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
    JF  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
    JO  - Journal of Health and Environmental Research
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    EP  - 46
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-3592
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20220801.17
    AB  - Within a couple of months, COVID-19 has evolved as an economic catastrophe beyond health cataclysm that was initially thought. It is already forewarned as to the deepest global recession since World War II. Bangladesh that represents the emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) has suddenly fallen into a deep economic hole although unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic related to health, macroeconomic and social effects are on equal focus. World Bank, in its June 2020 estimation, has revised Bangladesh’s growth downward to 1.6 percent in FY2020 whilst Bangladesh achieved average GDP growth of 6.5% since 2004 and generally, the labor-oriented service sector contributes about 50% to this growth. It is estimated that the national (upper) poverty rate from 24.3 percent in 2016 already increased to 35 percent in 2020. Declining demands, as well as supply disruptions, have weighed significantly on exports, especially exports of textiles and clothing products. Banking sectors are in potential risk due to the increase of Non-Performing Loan (NPL) which are mostly associated with the RMG industry and its backward linkage industries. On the other hand, the RMG sector has started to suffer from both cancellations of order and supply chain interruption alongside hamper in production due to lockdown. Slower loan recovery rate is also a cause of greater headache of the banking sector in this pandemic period. 85% of the total employment of the country belongs to informal sectors. A sharp fall in overall consumption led to decline in overall trade as well decline in production except for foods and medical items. SMEs have seen revenue drop by at least 50%, while 52% of SMEs have locks hung over their businesses generating no revenue at all. These all will create a large spillover effect on the state economy. To build quick resilience, some fiscal measures have been taken by the government of Bangladesh. IMF, ADB, and World Bank promised to support US$730 million, US$ 600 million, and US$100 million respectively to increase social safety net. To build more and sustainable resilience, a number of interventions to be considered such as immediate access to capital and technology by small, medium, and regional clustered enterprises; proper guideline and financial support to forced migrant laborers, utmost attempt to collect the demographic dividend and more. The study stands for composition analyses of secondary data proceedings and literature on the previous pandemic.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Agricultural Statistics, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Agricultural Statistics, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Management & Finance, Faculty of Agribusiness Management, Dhaka, Bangladesh

  • Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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