Electricity situation, inflation two biggest reasons for people's suffering: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed the authorities concerned to deal with the electricity situation and rate of inflation, which she said were two of the biggest reasons for people's suffering. 

Quoting the prime minister, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters that she gave the directives during today's meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). 

He said the authorities concerned informed that the electricity situation would improve in two weeks. 

Regarding inflation, the government will take steps to ensure that it doesn't climb higher, the minister said. 

According to the latest report from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Monday, the monthly inflation rate in May soared to a decade-high of 9.94%, up from 9.24% in the previous month, as both rural and urban people are paying higher prices for food and non-food items. 

The surge in inflation is higher than the 7.32% growth in wages in May, the statistics agency also revealed, indicating the hardship for fixed income earners.

Meanwhile, the country is reeling under an unprecedented load-shedding of around 2,500 megawatts, equivalent to what the country used to produce in total during the late '90s.

The situation has been exacerbated as it coincided with the severe heatwave which descended on the country, forcing the government to suspend primary school classes till 8 June. 

On 4 June, State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the ongoing load-shedding situation is expected to ease in the next two weeks.

"We have been working for the past two months to address the matter. But there are several challenges we need to tackle. The current economic situation as well as supply of oil and gas require focused efforts," Nasrul said.

But it will not be possible to reduce inflation in the next two or three weeks, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, reiterating that inflation must be tackled.

"In this case, our first step will be to ensure inflation does not increase; then roll back. There are some familiarisation techniques," she said. 

After that, the first strategy will be taken to control inflation by increasing stock in the market, she continued. "Imported goods and domestically produced goods must be stockpiled. The TCB has to increase its stock of essential commodities like rice, pentils, oil, among others, which are prone to overnight price hikes."

The prime minister said increasing stock will be done not only in Dhaka but also in Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna, and Sylhet on a large scale.

Planning Minister MA Mannan said the government expects remittances to increase ahead of Eid. Exports are expected to rise around the same time. Else, there will be many problems, he added.

The premier urged the authorities concerned to expedite the formulation and implementation of various projects under the Government to Government (G2G) initiatives, reports the BSS. 

Planning Minister MA Mannan said the premier put emphasis on expediting the process of formulating and implementing G2G projects with different countries like India and China as Bangladesh has agreements with those countries under their Lines of Credit.
 
Sheikh Hasina said there should not be any delay or negligence in this regard as these initiatives would enhance the foreign currency flow to Bangladesh, said Mannan.
 
The planning minister said the prime minister also asked the Planning Commission to prioritise foreign-funded projects considering the current situation.
 
He said the day's ECNEC meeting approved a total of 18 projects involving an overall estimated cost of Tk11,387.91 crore. "Of the total project cost, Tk7,445.34 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion, Tk80.78 crore from the concerned organization's own fund while the rest of Tk3,861.79 crore as project assistance," Mannan said. 
 
Of the 18 approved projects, nine are new while nine are revised projects. Besides, the meeting approved the timeframe extension of a project without raising its cost.

The planning minister said the premier reiterated her call to all concerned to maintain austerity in all spheres and boost domestic production side by side, not keeping idle an inch of land.

The Payra 1,320MW Thermal Power Plant was  also shut off completely on Monday with the closure of its second unit amid persisting coal shortage.

The plant's operations were shut at 12:10pm.

The shutdown of the major coal-fired plant is set to worsen the ongoing load shedding situation, especially in the southern region and a part of Dhaka where the plant used to supply electricity.