In Bangladesh, the Covid-19 pandemic hit economic players all at once. The small business sector, the country’s engine of growth and employment, is one of the worst-hit sectors because of its high dependency on low-skilled labour, low compliance with occupational health and safety standards, and limited access to the financial market. In late April 2020, LightCastle Partners & Sheba.xyz and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) conducted a survey on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and their workers and found that the pandemic-induced lockdown and social distancing caused a sharp contraction in production, supply chain disruption and workers’ layoff, and that the SMEs needed financial support (e.g. loan) to get back on their feet. Now that the economy has opened up, are the SMEs recovering from that shock?
In Bangladesh, the Covid-19 pandemic hit economic players all at once. The small business sector, the country’s engine of growth and employment, is one of the worst-hit sectors because of its high dependency on low-skilled labour, low compliance with occupational health and safety standards, and limited access to the financial market. In late April 2020, LightCastle Partners & Sheba.xyz and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) conducted a survey on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and their workers and found that the pandemic-induced lockdown and social distancing caused a sharp contraction in production, supply chain disruption and workers’ layoff, and that the SMEs needed financial support (e.g. loan) to get back on their feet. Now that the economy has opened up, are the SMEs recovering from that shock?
