‘Bangladesh not in financial crisis, but faces political, economic challenges’

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said the country is not in a financial crisis, but there are some political and economic challenges due to internal and external factors.

He made the remarks while addressing a policy dialogue on "Financial and Economic Reforms in Bangladesh 2024" at Brac University in the capital on Saturday.

Brac Business School of the university organised the seminar on its campus in Merul Badda.

The event was addressed by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commission (BSEC) Commissioner Farzana Lalarukh, and Brac Bank CEO and Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) Chairman Selim RF Hussain.

Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said most of the institutions, especially the state-owned companies, have been on the brink of collapse. There was no governance and accountability there.

"We are trying to bring good governance which is a big challenge,” he said, adding, "But I am not that much disappointed with the situation as the Bangladeshi people are very efficient and creative."

He said the government has been working to bring down inflation and create market stability by taking different measures like waving import duties.

"But there are so many factors – from production to supply chain. The traders have to pay extortion at 16-17 points which pushes up the prices.”

He said due to the middlemen and extortions, for instance, the price of per kg of brinjal goes up to Tk60 at the kitchen market from Tk10 at the production level. All the groups run the extortions with a mutual understanding.

"To stop extortions and end the middle-interest groups' business, a political solution is needed,” he said.

Criticising the previous regime's GDP calculations through wrong data and misinformation, the finance adviser said there was no accountability of the institutions.

He observed that there were many projects for which no feasibility study was conducted. Now it's found that the Indian Adani Group did not pay their taxes in implementing the project.

"We inherit all these and now we're repairing and reforming these with the support of people.”

He said this government may not be able to complete all the reforms, but leave a footprint so that the next government can follow and implement it.

‘BB helped looters to loot banks’

Conveying special thanks and appreciation to the Brac University students and teachers for their role in the July-August mass uprising, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said the previous regime destroyed all the institutions which put the country in challenge.

"The central bank which was supposed to oversee the banking sector actually helped the looters to loot the banks.”

He said the previous government had depicted a growth narrative where all the misinformation and disinformation were used. The growth figure was a false figure.

He alleged that the previous Awami League regime politicised the data and information. There was no private investment, but there was GDP growth. The tax-GDP ratio was not increased. They spent money to show the visible development.

He said the previous government intentionally picked up two sectors – financial and energy –  to loot the wealth.

He said an anti-reform and corrupt alliance was created among the corrupt politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats to loot the state’s wealth.           

BSEC Commissioner Farzana Lalarukh said the government has been working to implement reforms in the capital market. "The first step in this regard is to rebuild the confidence of the investors. We are trying to do that."

She said the BSEC would implement reforms to ensure accountability and transparency through a digital platform.