Readers’ Voice
04 November 2022
World edging recession
The World Trade Organisation's chief believes the world is heading towards a global recession due to multiple colliding crises and called for radical policies to revive growth. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Russia's war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, rising food prices, energy shocks and the aftermath of the pandemic were creating the conditions for a world recession. Now we have to weather what looks like an oncoming recession, she told the opening of the global trade body's annual public forum in Geneva.
We have security shocks, we have price shocks, we have climate shocks, we have energy shocks, we have food price shocks, and all of these are hitting us at the same time, so we cannot afford to do business as usual. The former Nigerian finance and foreign minister said central banks were in a tight spot, with little choice over the course ahead. Central banks don't really have too much of a choice but to increase interest rates but the repercussions on emerging markets and developing countries are quite severe. What happens in the developed countries affects their debt burdens, affects what they have to pay to service debt, and affects the flight of capital from their economies back into the developed countries.
Muhammad Amin
From Online
Funding community radios
In Bangladesh, 14 community radios are operating in different parts of the country to help rural people uplift their socio-economic condition by increasing their access to information and encouraging community action. Currently these radio stations are running as non-profit media. They have only a limited scope for earning revenues to meet their operational costs. It may be mentioned here that the Indian government has allocated 100 crore rupees for the development of the country's community radio sector. At present, 161 community radios are on air in India.
Community radios are functioning in almost all the countries of the world. So, it is strongly felt that the government should allocate sufficient fund for community radio for its development and better management.
Prof M Zahidul Haque
SAU, Dhaka
