IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN THE ECONOMIC GROWTH OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

COVID 19, that occurs due to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS, COV-2) is spreading at a faster rate beyond imagination and the number of infected people in densely populated country is growing rapidly (Dashraath et al., 2020). The novel coronavirus was detected in November 2019, in the city of Wuhan, China. In today’s globally interdependent world, Bangladesh like any other country faced an economic downturn due to the pandemic. People’s income levels, health, psychology, social life, consumption patterns, investments…everything faced an unprecedented halt and downward trend. However, these were the microeconomic factors only. The overall aggregate economy also tumbled. The general (secondary) purpose of this study (report) is to provide a review whether COVID indicators impacts the macroeconomic indicators of Bangladesh. Sampling of data is based on the lockdown time frame. That is from March 2020-November 2020. A purposive study based on whisker and boxplot through data tables of 9 months has revealed the following: (1) all the macroeconomic indicators have a negative skew, where most of the data concentration is towards the left. (2) The count of infected individuals and the number of deaths were the highest during June & July, respectively. (3) The macroeconomic indicators have weak, in some indicators, no relation at all with the COVID-19 indicators. Recommendations: Existing agricultural and RMG exports should be uplifted to ensure growth. Remittance, FOREX reserve, DSEX indices are not to be relied upon for longer for economic growth as these indicators fluctuate frequently and the volatility is high. Moreover, the gain in them has appeared after continuous projections, which might not survive in the foreseeable future. CSR spending from the banking sector should be improved and banks must come forward in such moments of crisis. The listed companies of DSE must see it as a chance to give back to the society and do their best in aiding the human kind for the post pandemic crisis that can be anticipated.