Foreign
SOUTH Asia has suffered an unprecedented combination of shocks over the past three years, and moving from recovery to growth required ensuring that economic development is inclusive.
The World Bank said this in its latest regional economic update.
The report, *Expanding Opportunities: Toward Inclusive Growth’’ is the subject of a two-day conference here that opened Tuesday, organised by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and the World Bank.
The conference was to discuss South Asia’s economic outlook.
Over the past two decades, sustained economic growth in South Asia had lifted some 250 million people out of extreme poverty and improved living standards, said the global lender.
However, economic growth had not benefited all groups equally, and social progress remained elusive, it said.
“Bangladesh has made significant progress in bridging gaps between low and high-opportunity groups, particularly in the education sector. However, much remains to be done,’’ Abdoulaye Seck said.
Seck is the World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
He noted that South Asian countries must continue to reduce socioeconomic disparities as they led to differences in access to jobs, earnings, consumption, and welfare, and impact overall growth.
“Reducing inequality of opportunity and increasing economic mobility in South Asia is important because it is an essential part of broadening the tax base,’’ Hans Timmer said.
Timmer is the World Bank’s chief economist for South Asia.
“Therefore, eliminating obstacles to mobility is not merely a long-term agenda, but should be a central part of current reform programs that aim to make the fiscal outlook more sustainable.
“And this helps South Asia achieve its full potential,” the chief economist said.
To this end, the World Bank report recommended continued improvement of quality primary education and expanding access to secondary and higher education.
It would help to evaluate and strengthen affirmative action policies targeted to low-opportunity groups, and also policies to improve the business climate for small and medium enterprises.
It helped to account for the bulk of job opportunities for the less well-off.
In addition, reducing barriers to labour mobility could have a powerful equalising impact, as urban areas tended to offer more opportunities for social mobility,. (Xinhua/NAN)
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Tags: Abdoulaye Seck World Bank
