The August 2019 issue of Thinking Aloud focuses on “Youth budget and the demographic dividend”. The first page article titled “Unleashing the demographic dividend through investing on youth in Bangladesh” accentuates on utilizing the full potentials of youth population. Bangladesh being at the middle of the period of demographic transition, is yet to reap the benefits of its demographic profile. Given the gap in policy efforts to prioritize public spending human capital development with youths being in the forefront, it is crucial that the country prioritize youth development in its national plans and policies as well as in resource allocation to reap the benefits of demographic dividend in coming years. The second page article on “Revisiting public expenditure on education in light of demographic dividend in Bangladesh” stresses that although the added human capital of the youth gained through education and training is considered as the main driver of growth acceleration during the period of demographic dividend, public expenditure has not been adequate in Bangladesh to boost the education sector. Traditionally, the education budget of Bangladesh is mostly dedicated towards operational or non-development budget. Furthermore, the major share of the development budget is concentrated in the development of physical infrastructure as well. In order to actually propel growth and benefit from the demographic dividend, public expenditure has to be prioritized in the area of research and quality enhancement. The third page article titled “Business environment and demographic dividend in Bangladesh: Where do they merge?” discusses although there is concentration on developing health and skills of the youth for demographic dividend, little emphasis is provided to the business environment in Bangladesh which is where the dividend can maximize its potential. The fourth page covers the events that took place in the month of July.
