Planning Minister MA Mannan has said that people’s salaries and allowances have not increased as inflation has in the country.
He made the remark after a meeting with representatives of the International Labor Organization (ILO) at the Ministry of Planning on Wednesday.
The Planning Minister said, “We should remember the main reason for inflation. This is not a failure of our market. Our market is now deeply connected with the global market. Other market pressures also got here to us.”
However, he claimed that the country's current inflation is good for low-income countries.
In response to a question from journalists, the Planning Minister said that the ILO has not asked to increase the wages of workers in all cases.
They only talked about increasing the wages of tea workers and coastal fishermen, he said, adding that we have recently increased the wages of tea workers.
“Wages are being increased. It will increase in the coming days. I also think that we should look at increasing the wages of tea workers and coastal fishermen,” he mentioned.
Mannan said that despite increasing the wages of tea workers by Tk 1000, they often do not leave the tea garden. They want to stay in that garden. This is because they have been living in this village for a long time. It also has a significant financial value. Many people think that these workers are being forced to work. Actually it is not like that. But their ration should be increased.”
In response to the question whether an IMF loan will bring relief to the country's economy or not, the Planning Minister said, “I have Tk 100 in my pocket, if someone lends me Tk 10, it is a bit better. There will be some temporary relief in IMF loans. But the government is not uncomfortable.”
Regarding the high inflation in the country, he said, “Everyone goes to the market, it's not like that today the price suddenly changed from one day to another. Even in the month of Kartika (the eighth month of the Bangla calendar year), there is less rice in the house. It is a regular process. As money will be in the pocket at the beginning of the month, it will not be the same at the end of the month. At the end of the month there may be a shortage in the pocket.”
The meeting was attended by ILO Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Specialist Gunjan Dalakoti, Chief Technical Adviser Igor Bose, National Project Coordinator Annie Dong and Program Officer Khadija Khandkar.