New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) Nearly 47.42 per cent of households across Bangladesh, majority in rural areas, have fallen into debt as living expenses skyrocketed amidst stagnant earnings, a new report has said, using data from a special survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The report from Bangladesh-based The Daily Star said that 51.91 per cent of households in rural areas, 40.19 per cent in urban areas and 32.11 per cent in city corporation areas borrowed money over the past year to cover basic living expenses.
The special survey sampled 3,000 households across 150 primary sampling units to assist the National Pay Commission in drafting recommendations for salary increases under the upcoming ninth pay scale.
The report mentioned a widening gap between household income and expenses, as the national average monthly income is Tk 33,513, while average monthly expenses amounted to Tk 35,311.
In city corporation areas, families face an even greater disparity, spending an average of Tk 46,778 per month against lower income levels. In urban areas, household expenses averaged Tk 37,344, while rural expenses stood at Tk 32,532.
Earnings stagnation is far more pronounced in villages, because cities offer relatively more economic opportunities, an expert said.
The survey found that monthly expenses were spent more on food in the rural areas, while urban areas spend more on non-food items. Non-food expenses account for 56.7 per cent of city corporation households’ monthly expenses.
Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office, described the latest survey findings as proof of the weak macroeconomic environment Bangladesh is suffering from since the pandemic.
“There has been a steady decline in economic growth in recent years alongside high single-digit or double-digit inflation that is showing no signs of abating. Meanwhile, employment has remained stagnant while real wages have steadily fallen,” the report cited the economist.
Inflation has surpassed wage growth for 56 consecutive months in September, according to government data.
“In September, wage growth fell to 7.9 per cent from 8.05 per cent the previous month, according to the BBS’s Wage Rate Index, which tracks monthly wages of low-paid skilled and unskilled workers across 63 occupations in agriculture, industry and services,” the report said.
—IANS
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