Women sit on the ground maintaining social distance waiting to receive relief supplies provided by local police authority amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 2 April 2020 Reuters
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Sunday projected a GDP growth rate of 2.5 per cent -the lowest in almost 30 years- for the Bangladesh economy in the 2019-20 fiscal, as most of the sectors contributing to GDP were hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic, reports news agency UNB.
The country’s one of the leading think tanks disclosed the projection in a virtual briefing on “Challenges of Policymaking in Times of Pandemics: State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2020.”
It also forecast that the country’s poverty rate may soar back up to 35 per cent due to the impact of the lockdown imposed to fight COVID-19, meaning 35 per cent of the population would be living below the poverty line used in Bangladesh.
The government announced the general holidays from 26 March up to 30 May in phases since outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the country on 8 March.