FBD Desk:

Bangladesh witnessed the highest ever remittance inflow in fiscal 2019-20 which was 10.87 percent higher than the previous year.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam briefed the media today after the regular cabinet meeting held at secretariat.At the meeting reports of annual activities of ministries and divisions in FY20 were placed.

Country received a total of US$ 18205.01 million remittance in FY20 which was US$ 16419.63 million in fiscal 2018-19.

Besides, foreign currency reserve in the fiscal stood at US$ 36.04 billion while revenue collection was Taka 2,62,806 crore even after the Covid-19 outbreak.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting joining from her official residence Ganabhaban through video conferencing.

In FY20, the growth reached at 5.24 percent which was quite more than many other development countries in Asia as well as across the world, said the cabinet secretary.

He said the growth rate is a remarkable achievement in the COVID-19 pandemic gripped situation.

To deal with the impacts of COVID-19 and rejuvenate country’s economy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced 21 stimulus packages of Taka 120,053 crore which was 4.30 percent of GDP, he said.

Of the total, Taka 57,785 crore has been disbursed so far from the stimulus packages, he said.

Poverty rate in FY20 reduced to 20.5 percent from 21.8 percent while the rate of extreme poverty declined to 10.5 percent from 12.9 percent.The per capita income stood at US$ 2,064 in FY20 from US$ 1,909.

The finance ministry reported also displayed many other indicators. Apart from it, the cabinet approved The Gandhi Ashram (Trustee Board) Act, 2020 which was Gandhi Ashram (Trustee Board) Ordinance, 1975.

The cabinet secretary said the ordinance has only been converted into act while all the functions and activities will be same as previous.

The cabinet also approved Development Board (Dissolve) Act, 2020 and passed the list of holidays for 2021 where a total of 22 days were finalized as holidays.

On the other hand, the finance division also informed the cabinet meeting about different stimulus packages taken as per the directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and their implementation progress to rejuvenate country’s economy.

Replying to a query, Khandker Anwarul Islam said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated her directives and asked all public and private organizations not to provide services to people without wearing masks to curb COVID-19.

The cabinet secretary also requested all for building social awareness among the people for wearing masks.(Source: BSS)