The spread of novel coronavirus disease or covid 19 was first detected in the Wuhan province of China on 31 December 2019. Later, the coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020. The virus has quickly spread to 185 developing and developed countries around the world.
The pandemic has affected all aspects of human life around the world. It has brought great changes in the economy, society, and family life of people. According to the United Nations, the world has not experienced such a change in the last 75 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy.
The pandemic has affected all aspects of human life around the world. It has brought great changes in the economy, society, and family life of people. According to the United Nations, the world has not experienced such a change in the last 75 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has termed the current situation as a new recession and compared it to the European financial crisis of 2009. Along with damaging the global economy, the pandemic has negatively affected development, security, health care, food, and political sectors.
Now let’s look at how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the economy of Bangladesh and changed the people and social context of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the most populous countries in the world. Bangladesh is facing a huge challenge due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The first case of Covid-19 was identified in Bangladesh on 8 March 2019. According to the information of the Department of Health, a total of 19 lakh 44 thousand 376 patients have been identified since the outbreak of Corona in the country till now (1 March 2022). Among them, 18 lakh 22 thousand 125 people have recovered. 29 thousand 45 people died.
As a result of the outbreak of Corona, Bangladesh has already faced a crisis in health, economy, social, religious, and political fields. Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the country’s economy. The impact of Covid-19 on the economy of Bangladesh is observed in three primary areas: First, from March 26, 2020. On that day Bangladesh announced the first lockdown which was later withdrawn. Lockdown started in the country for the second time on April 5, 2021. Due to the lockdown, the country’s local manufacturing trade has declined, secondly, exports to the ready-made garment sector (RMG) have declined (although the situation is quite good now) and thirdly, remittances sent by Bangladeshis living abroad have declined.
A total of $2.3 billion in apparel orders were canceled in the first half. Major companies in the UK, one of the largest exporters of Bangladeshi garments, canceled orders worth $25 billion. In addition to Primark, most UK clothing retailers, including Fraser Group, Walmart-owned Asda, Debenhams, New Look, and Philip Day’s Picks, canceled their clothing orders from Bangladeshi suppliers. Many garment workers lost their jobs due to the cancellation of garment orders. Many garment factories fire their workers without any prior warning.
According to a report published by Penn State University’s Global Workers’ Rights and the Workers’ Rights Consortium (WRC), more than a million garment workers in Bangladesh lost their jobs due to order cancellations. On March 25, 2020, the Bangladesh government announced a $588 million development package to fund the wages of garment workers. This package can provide only one month’s salary for the workers. Apart from this, there is no protection policy paid by the government for the workers which they can rely on.
According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), around $2.67 billion worth of production, or 828 million garment orders were canceled during that period. Many factories shut down, affecting the lives of about 1.96 million people. According to a survey released by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in October 2020, ready-made garment (RMG) factories shed 8 percent of their workforce between March and October. And among the garment workers who lost their jobs, the number of women is 61 percent. Before the onset of Covid-19, the overall proportion of women in garment factories was 62 percent. It is now down to 57 percent.
The Bangladesh government’s main strategy for the garment industry was to temporarily shut down garment factories to prevent the spread of the virus. Later, the government decided to open the factories in an attempt to protect the garment industry. While businessmen, workers, and factory owners applauded the decision, human rights activists criticized the decision. They urged the government to ensure more protection for factory workers.
Covid-19 hit the garment industry first with order cancellations and delayed payments. Government initiatives for this industry include extending wage support loans and stimulus packages, facilitating export development funds, holding foreign exchange in a single pool to pay back-to-back imports, and the moratorium on export earnings and debt classification. These government initiatives have helped the garment industry to withstand the impact of the first wave of Corona.
The BGME president mentioned the second hit of Corona in the fourth quarter of 2020 and said that the situation in the garment industry has worsened. Garment sector exports declined by 7.78 percent in October 2020. Last year the annual export volume decreased by about 16.94 percent. Export prices have fallen and order placements have slowed. Already suffering from the first wave of attacks, this industry needs to be protected. Restructuring this sector will ensure a stable life for millions of workers. However, that situation is no longer there. Despite the third wave of Corona, the factory was not closed. It has benefited the garment industry. Now every factory has a lot of work and a lot of orders. There is also much growth in garment exports.
Impact of Corona on Migrant Workers and Remittances: The second blow to the country’s economy comes from the disruption in remittance flows after the garment industry lost $6 billion in export earnings. Remittances are considered the lifeline of many rural households in Bangladesh. It is considered the second highest source of foreign exchange earnings in Bangladesh after the garment sector, which accounts for about 40 percent. The remittance sector contributes about 8.8 percent to the country’s GDP and contributes significantly to national income, macroeconomic stability, and poverty reduction in the country. Migration largely affects unemployment reduction and remittance flows and plays a central role in the national economy.
The Refugee and Migrant Movement Research Unit (RAMRU) has dubbed migrant workers the ‘golden man’ for their tremendous contribution to the economy. A comparison of remittance flow data in March 2019 and March 2020 provided by Bangladesh Bank at the onset of Corona shows a clear downward trend. Around 11.38 percent of migrant workers lost their jobs in different countries. According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), about 60,000 Bangladeshis go abroad in search of jobs every month. The longer the pandemic lasts, the longer the waiting time to go abroad. According to the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), about one and a half to two million workers had completed the immigration process in the last three months before May 2020 and were waiting to leave the country. Due to the Covid crisis, developed countries have created some restrictions in their job markets. As a result, many migrant workers lost their jobs and returned home.
Corona Pandemic, Rural Women Entrepreneurs Women’s Life: The Covid-19 pandemic has also put rural women entrepreneurs in a significant crisis, out of which 80 percent of the entrepreneurs had no income during the pandemic. With no income, small business entrepreneurs spend most of their savings in a bid to survive and get caught up in debt