China's economy needs workers but its three-child policy may not fix the problem



Business Desk, Barta24.com
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China's decision to allow people to have more children is a dramatic attempt to head off a worsening labor shortage that could weigh on the country's economic rise.

The change in policy to allow couples to have three kids rather than two — announced Monday — is intended to improve China's "demographic structure," deal with an aging population and maintain "abundant human resources" for the world's second biggest economy, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

The move is a huge shift for China, which only relaxed its long-standing one-child policy six years ago.

But the pressure has been building since then, and just weeks ago China reported an alarming decline in its labor force that economists warned could cap economic growth. Recent census data showed that China's population is growing at its slowest rate in decades, while the number of people aged between 15 and 59 dropped below 900 million to about 63% of the population in 2020 — down some 7 percentage points from a decade earlier.

Experts have said China's labor force will peak in the next few years before shrinking by about 5% over the next decade.

"The demographic dividend that propelled the country's economic rise over recent decades is set to dissipate quickly," said Yue Su, an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, in remarks published earlier this month.

That could mean trouble for the big economic policy objectives set by President Xi Jinping. He has laid out ambitions for China's GDP to double by 2035.

And while some forecasters say China could surpass the United States as the world's biggest economy by the end of this decade, it has a much bigger gap to close in terms of prosperity. China's per capita GDP stands at $17,000, compared with a US figure of more than $63,000, according to the International Monetary Fund.

China introduced its one-child policy more than 40 years ago to address overpopulation and alleviate poverty. But as the population aged, Beijing started loosening its policies, and in 2015 announced that it would relax the restrictions to allow up to two children per family.

Now the government is easing up even more — but simply telling people they're allowed to have more kids may on its own not be enough to address the demographic crisis. China's birth rate fell by almost 15% year-on-year in 2020, and some people have indicated that the rising cost of living is a major deterrent to having larger families.

There was a notable lack of enthusiasm on Chinese social media in the wake of Monday's announcement. Reasons for not wanting to have a third child — or any child, for that matter — were among the hottest trending topics on Weibo, a Twitter-like social media platform in China.

"It's mainly because I feel tired," one Weibo user wrote. "How can I afford having a child when the pressure in life is so high?"

Xinhua asked Weibo users whether they were ready for a third child. The online survey attracted more than 30,000 responses within half an hour, more than 90% of which voted "absolutely not considering." The survey was quietly removed.

"Barring other measures to encourage fertility, further liberalization of birth limits might provide only limited help to birth rates and overall population growth in China," analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote in a research note last week. "The population in China appears likely to peak in the next five years with the working age population continuing to decline."

Source: CNN

   

A remittance of 141 crore dollars came in 22 days



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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In the first 22 days of this month of March, expatriates sent remittances of 141 crore 44 lakh dollars through legal channels and banking channels. According to this, an average of 6 crore 43 lakh dollars of remittances came to the country every day.

This information was revealed in the updated report of Bangladesh Bank on Sunday (March 24).

A review of the data showed that expatriates sent 141 crore 44 lakh 50 thousand dollars to the banks on the 22nd day of March. Of this, 18 crore 24 lakh 60 thousand dollars came through the state-owned banks.

Besides, 2 crore 15 lakh dollars came through specialized banks, 120 crore 47 lakh 80 thousand dollars through private banks and 57 lakh 10 thousand dollars through foreign sector banks.

According to the Central Bank, from March 16 to 22, expatriates sent 39 crore 54 lakh 70 thousand dollars to the country. From March 9 to 15, remittances of 50 crore 60 lakh 70 thousand dollars have arrived in the country. Besides, 51 crore 29 lakh 10 thousand dollars came from 1 to 8 March.

And last February, 216 crore 60 lakh dollars remittances came to the country which is the highest in the current financial year. 

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Market system must be freed from influence of invisible hand: FBCCI



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Business leaders have called for the supply chain to be freed from the influence of the invisible hand to stabilize commodity markets.

They agreed on this in the price monitoring committee coordination meeting of FBCCI at the FBCCI office in Motijheel on Sunday (March 24).

The meeting was presided over by FBCCI senior vice-president Md. Amin Helali. He said that common people often make harsh comments about the prices of goods. But most traders want to conduct their business transparently. All of us are getting a bad name because of a few people. It is important to get out of this situation. He commented that an ideal businessman can never become a black marketer.

The senior vice president of FBCCI Amin Helali urged the market committees to record the problems and obstacles in each market of the capital and submit them to FBCCI. He said that FBCCI will discuss the problems of traders at the highest level of the government.

Warning against traders who destabilize the supply chain, the FBCCI senior vice-president said that the supply chain must first be freed from the influence of the invisible hand to keep commodity prices within the reach of the masses. We will actively work to stop visible and invisible extortion in the markets.

The meeting was attended by retailers and wholesalers from different areas of the capital. At this time, vendors of different markets of the capital said that vendors with permanent licenses are not responsible for destabilizing the market. They also claim that those who buy and sell goods on the sidewalk or road by subsidizing various quarters are responsible for destabilizing the market.

Permanent licensed peddlers complain that when trucks loaded with goods enter the markets of Dhaka at night - the goods are exchanged 2 to 3 times while in the vehicle and the price increases. In this case, floating traders are largely responsible, but the government's market control agencies raid, jail and fine the permanent traders. And the temporary or floating traders disappear before the light of day. As a result, in all cases, the permanently licensed hawkers have to suffer the punishment.

It was informed in the meeting that the price monitoring committee of FBCCI will go to different markets of the capital and meet with the market committees in the next few weeks. At this time, Amin Helali urged the market committees to collectively move forward to solve the problem.

The meeting was attended by FBCCI director Hafez Haji Haroon-or-Rashid, Hafez Haji Mohammad Enayet Ullah, Azizul Haque, Kausar Ahmed, Md. Niaz Ali Chisti, Haji Alauddin, Md. Abul Hashem, Price Monitoring Committee members, market committee leaders and business leaders.

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Exim and Padma Bank are merging



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Private Padma Bank is going to merge with Exim Bank. In the meantime, Bangladesh Bank has also been informed about the merger of the two banks.

This decision was taken unanimously in the board meeting of Exim Bank on Thursday (March 14).

Chairman of Exim Bank Nazrul Islam Mazumder confirmed this to the media.

According to a director of Exim Bank, a decision has been taken to merge private Padma Bank with Exim Bank. Soon it will be sent to Bangladesh Bank for permission. It will come into force after the approval of the regulatory body.

The same information was also known from a related official of Padma Bank.

Earlier, Bangladesh Bank had said that weak banks would be allowed to voluntarily merge by December. Failing this, a final decision on them will be taken in March.

Recently, Bangladesh Bank published the Banks Health Index (BHI) and Heat Map. According to that report, Padma Bank is in the red zone and Exim Bank is in the yellow zone.

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Signing agreement of Global Islami Bank Plc with Bangladesh Bank



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
Signing agreement of Global Islami Bank Plc with Bangladesh Bank

Signing agreement of Global Islami Bank Plc with Bangladesh Bank

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Two agreements have been signed between Global Islami Bank PLC and Credit Guarantee Department of Bangladesh Bank. The agreement was signed to provide credit guarantee facilities to women entrepreneurs and the agricultural products processing sector with the aim of achieving the desired expansion of small scale industries, job creation and economic growth.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday (March 12) at Jahangir Alam Conference Hall of Bangladesh Bank, Head Office.

Under these two agreements, Global Islami Bank will be able to make unsecured investments in women entrepreneurs and agricultural products processing sector by taking the credit guarantee facility of Bangladesh Bank.

In the presence of Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Noorun Nahar and Executive Director Mohammad Jamal Uddin, Managing Director Syed Habib Hasnat on behalf of Global Islami Bank and Nahid Rahman, Director of Credit Guarantee Department on behalf of Bangladesh Bank signed the agreement. Global Islami Bank's Executive Vice President and Head of Investment Division SM Mizanur Rahman was also present on the occasion.

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