Subsidies for Agricultural Inputs in Bangladesh:A Policy Analysis on Fertilizers Incentives
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Abstract
This study aims to make a policy analysis on the fertilizer subsidy in the Bangladesh agriculture. Five policy goals, such as ensuring equity through affordable price of fertilizer for the small-income farmers, ensuring food security for the citizens; maintaining growth in the agriculture sector, enhancing import substitute agriculture, and ensuring socio-political viability of state subsidy to fertilizer have been considered in this analysis. For policy analysis, the study depends on the readily available data in the official statistics and the previous studies on fertilizer subsidy. The study finds that the more progressive policy provides better social and economic leverage over the conservative policy of fertilizer subsidy in Bangladesh. The progressive policy could be challenged by the taxpayers and the business lobbies within the government. Hence, the status-quo could be a comfortable policy option for the fertilizer subsidy to agricultural sector in Bangladesh. Overall, it is the responsibility of the political leader to take into account the advantage and disadvantage of the policy alternatives as per score board of the present analysis, and the interest of the political party in power.
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