The International Monetary Fund on Thursday enquired about the high unemployment rate among the university graduates in Bangladesh.
It made the query at a meeting with officials of the labour ministry, Finance Division, National Skill Development Authority and Skills for Industry Competitiveness and Innovation Programme at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
The Labour Force Survey 2024 said that the overall unemployment rate was 3.66 per cent in the country while the graduate unemployment rate was 13.5 per cent, the highest among all education levels.
The rate has been climbing steadily for years, more than doubling over the past eight years.
Finance ministry officials blamed the skills gap between what the graduates learn at the universities and the requirement of the job market for the situation.
Most of the universities prioritise theoretical knowledge over practical skills with outdated curricula, weak teaching, low quality of higher education and a lack of strong industry connection, they said.
Besides, a large number of graduates are produced each year without a corresponding increase in job opportunities, they added.
An IMF mission is conducting its fifth review of its $5.5 billion loan programme to Bangladesh.
The latest mission is also linked to the Article IV report, an annual consultation with its member countries on overall economy, on Bangladesh.
Finance ministry officials said that enquiring about the country鈥檚 job situation by the IMF was more linked to the Article IV report.
However, the IMF鈥檚 focus on the country鈥檚 structural transformation and job creation will help the other multilateral lenders like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, said the officials.
Both the WB and the ADB give loans to the government of Bangladesh for implementing development projects aiming at job generation, one of major objects.
The IMF mission that will meet finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on November 6 will conclude its review on November 13.
The fifth review is linked to the release of the sixth tranche worth about $400 million.
Led by Chris Papageorgiou, the IMF mission began the review on Wednesday by holding meeting with Finance Division officials, including its secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder, in the capital on Wednesday.
But the country is unlikely to get the tranche before the national election slated for February.
So far, the IMF has disbursed $3.5 billion of the $5.5 billion loan programme.
The original amount of the loan programme, which began in 2023, was $4.7 billion.
