Write an essay on the causes of the recent devaluation of Take and its effects on the economy of Bangladesh.

Created: 1 year ago | Updated: 10 months ago

The causes of the recent devaluation of Take and its effects on the economy of Bangladesh

Turbulence in the currency market has become a cause for serious concern. Foreign exchange market, like the domestic commodity market, cannot be manipulated although the flow of forex's supply can be disrupted in time of greater demand. At times, the central bank has to inject greenbacks to stabilise the forex market as the Bangladesh Bank (BB) did with a record $5.31 billion the financial year of 2022.

Yet instead of stabilising, the currency market has become jittery and the central bank was forced to devalue Taka twice after a big depreciation in January 2022 last. Now the latest sale and purchase of a dollar at a record of Tk 102 on the kerb market in May 2022 only highlights the extent of forex crisis. Even importers were compelled to settle import bills at Tk 97 against the BB-fixed rate of 87.60 for a dollar.

Rising import costs, declining remittances and a large payment to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) as early as January triggered the process of short supply of greenbacks and decline in the forex reserve to $44.33 billion on January 5 2022 from $46.39 billion on June 30 2021, which reached a record reserve of $48 billion in August last. Still the gap between import and export favours widening of the current account deficit.

So this latest forex crunch will put further pressure on the country's forex reserve. Now the question is, how it will impact the country's economy and commodity, foods in particular, inflation. Economies the world over suffered on account of the pandemic and the steeply rising prices of fuel oils have triggered a chain reaction of commodity and service inflation, globally. At home, even utilities are becoming costlier. After gas price hike, electricity is likely to be pricier with a proposal submitted for raising its tariff by 66 per cent. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Committee has suggested a 58 per cent raise for per unit power.

At a time when the spectre of hunger looms large over the globe, these developments on the domestic front cannot but make political leaders concerned about its impact on the poorer sections of the population and the overall food security of the country. When the official announcement was surplus production of rice, the country all of a sudden came to know that the staple was in short supply. There was desperate search for overseas market from where rice could be imported. At one stage, duty on import by private companies was slashed to just 2.0 per cent from 16 per cent.

On the heel of the pandemic has come the Russia-Ukraine war and it is wreaking havoc on some essential commodities including one of the most popular staples, wheat in many countries of the world. Russia, the biggest global exporter of wheat and a major exporter Ukraine are engaged in the war and the supply chain of gas and fuel oils, wheat and sunflower oil, of which the war-ravaged country was the biggest exporter, has been severely disrupted or come to a total halt, stoking high inflation. Sectors that earn foreign exchange will benefit on account of devaluation of Taka but compared to the country's overall loss this is small consolation.

So the challenge before the government is stiff. Management of the market and adjustment of Taka- Dollar exchange rates are the immediate challenge and ensuring a sustainable forex reserve and development is the long-term objective. That the government has decided to go slow on less important development projects is a step in the right direction. But getting the priority right is no mean task, when it comes to preparing for the future.

The development model followed so far depending on cheap labour may fail to deliver in the days to come. There is no alternative to developing human resources. Demographic dividend can be reaped if only quality human capital can be developed under a comprehensive and up-to-date education system with required investment in the sector. This is the priority task for the government like any other in the world.

8 months ago

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“Health for all” implies the removal of the obstacles to health that is to say, the elimination of malnutrition, ignorance, contaminated drinking-water, and unhygienic housing quite as much as it does the solution of purely medical problems such as a lack of doctors, hospital beds, drugs and vaccines. Health for All in Bangladesh contains the most comprehensive information available about primary health care services in Bangladesh, including activities in maternal and child health care, Family planning, reproductive health care, nutrition, quality of care, and health care financing.

7 months ago

Cluster Villages

 

A majority of the Bangladesh population are farmers who are settled in villages. They toil to make both ends meet and produce crops for the entire nation. Bangladesh has about 68,000 villages, which are scattered throughout the country.  A village is called the rural part of the country. It is called rural because it does not have modern facilities like cities. The main occupation of the villagers is farming. They are the primary source of the nation's agricultural production.

 

Description of Villages

Villages have either tiny hamlets of thatched huts or large settlements of tiled roofs, stones, and brick homes. An impression has been created by artists and filmmakers that an Indian village is a simple cluster of mud-plastered walls, shaded by trees, overlooking the large expanses of green fields with a few people moving slowly and of course, bullock carts. They portray a village woman with a pot on her head and walking gracefully, her skirt swaying gently. The reality is that a village is the hub of nonstop activity, with their stronger work ethics. Agriculture is tough and requires hard work. The villagers work very hard and are always trying to find innovative methods of growing wheat, rice, and lentils. 

 

Importance of Village

The village is important because it is the primary sector of agricultural production for our country. The village is the backbone of Bangladesh economy. It also plays a major role in maintaining the ecological balance of the environment. Villages are mostly covered with trees and plants. They are covered with green grasslands. One can see acres of green fields as far as the eyes could see. They provide shelter to many animals. 

Life in Village

The village life is full of contentment and happiness, as people are not in a hurry like in city life. Village people live a very simple life. Villages are mostly situated far from the hustle and bustle of urban civilization. The beauty of nature can be experienced in a village as it is surrounded by trees, flowers, mountains, streams, and farmlands. There is no pollution in the village and one can feel the freshness in the breeze. The demands of the villagers are not too high but they are still deprived of basic facilities. Clean drinking water, electricity, health center, schools, proper sanitation are a few facilities that are lacking in the villages. Their poverty is always visible in the atmosphere. 

Conclusion

My village is a small abode for happy people.  Here they live in harmony and peace. The village people are very hardworking and thus they must have a good source of upliftment. Like the village’s schools and clinics should be maintained and increased in number. The farmers should be facilitated by helping them to leverage their sales, make them notified about the modern techniques used in farming, and give them compensation and knowledge of the true market price of their crops. Thus, I would request governmental authorities to come forward and uplift the medical, educational, and farming facilities in the village.

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Problems of urban living in Bangladesh

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Bangladesh needs to build an urban space that is capable of innovating, is better connected and more livable in order to make cities competitive. Bangladesh’s urban space is falling behind in all three of these drivers of competitiveness. The Dhaka metro area needs to evolve into a diversified economy with skilled human resources and an innovation capacity fueled by the cross-fertilization of ideas typical of large metropolitan areas. Dhaka metro area also needs to be better connected internally and with its peri-urban areas, and both Dhaka and Chittagong have to strengthen their connection to the global economy. Improved connectivity within Bangladesh’s system of cities is also important for productivity and export competitiveness. The development of an economically dynamic urban space, in particular in the Dhaka metro region, has occurred at the expense of livability. The livability of the urban space will become an even more binding constraint to sustained growth as Bangladesh transitions to a new business model based on higher-value industries and services, which need a highly skilled and internationally mobile workforce. This  is a tall order for Bangladesh, but planning needs to start today for Bangladesh’s cities to become more competitive in future.

 

Urbanization have crucial role to play in the economic development of Bangladesh. The circumstances under which population in Dhaka and Chittagong are growing without proportionate infrastructural development will begin to wipe out most of the gains associated with urbanization. That is, relative high levels of urbanization may not be sufficient to ensure higher levels of economic welfare in Bangladesh. This has happened in Latin America with levels of urbanization, above 80%, yet with real per capita incomes about a third that of developed nations. It could happen in Bangladesh as well unless the urban managers rise from their prolonged slumber.

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My school days

School is said to be a temple of knowledge, the very first place that introduced you to the world and more so your own self. My school life is all about the memories I deeply cherish. The memories of not only the fun, friendship and all the sport and extracurricular but also the way it helped me find my interests. I owe it all to my school life. It has made me who I am today.

My school life has been full of different experiences over the years. It gave various opportunities to develop not only my scholastic abilities but also the art and sport side. It supported me in my sports as well as exposed me to numerous types of people. All of this accounted to make me understand how to behave socially and in building a personality which I have today.

There are numerous things that make school life the best phase in one’s life. All of this eventually is because we are young to do mistakes again and again till we realize, dumb enough to not think about people and do what we feel like doing, curious to know everything we can and most importantly still not exposed and contaminated with the evil feelings of this world. And all of this makes us build a personality of our own.

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