Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance is going to form a new government with heavy socioeconomic burdens after its landslide victory in the 13th national election.
The $462 billion economy has recently been passing through a sluggish state due to the absence of an elected and democratic government, resulting in multipronged macroeconomic stresses.
Reviving the economic wheels of the country by bringing discipline in the fragile financial sector; improving investment climate by improving the law-and-order situation, particularly in industrial belts; containing the high inflation regime; addressing low revenue mobilisation; and creating jobs will remain the major challenges for the elected government to tackle.
On the other hand, critical issues like bringing back trust of depositors in the banking sector amid persisting merger initiatives, addressing higher lending costs, and accelerating private sector credit demand at a time of growing government bank borrowing also need to be handled in the coming days.
BNP-led alliance leaders, who won the polls, also admitted the new government would face too many socioeconomic challenges.
They said the alliance, after forming the government, would chalk out a list of priorities to overcome the challenges and accelerate economic activities across the country.
BNP parliamentarian and business leader Abdul Awal Mintoo, who won the election from Feni-3 constituency, said the first challenge was to restructure the entire administration as part of the alliance's anti-corruption commitment.
The second challenge, he said, would be to improve the investment climate.
He said investment at present was far below what they expected in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP).
To achieve the target, Mintoo, a former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said they would need to improve the law and order situation as quickly as possible along with addressing other anti-investment hurdles.
"We need to improve it (investment climate) at any cost. Otherwise, we will not be able to create the required number of jobs as some 2.70 million youths join the job market every year," he said.
The businessman-cum-politician said the private sector-led economy had been under sluggishness for long and they would need to make the private sector vibrate by enhancing its credit demand.
According to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the private sector credit growth stood at 6.10 per cent in December 2025, the lowest in recent history.
BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said his party would place a strong emphasis on restoring law and order, which was essential not only for ensuring public safety but also for attracting both foreign and local investments.
He said the party believed that a stable security situation was the foundation of economic growth, business confidence, and job creation.
Without proper law enforcement and protection of citizens' rights, sustainable development was not possible, said Ahmed, who won the election from Cox's Bazar-1 constituency.
Referring to the rise of the mob culture in recent times, he said the country had witnessed a worrying trend of mob violence, public intimidation, and incidents where groups had taken the law into their own hands.
Such practices, he said, undermined the justice system, creating fear among citizens and tarnishing the country's image abroad.
He stressed the BNP would adopt a zero-tolerance policy against mob justice and unlawful activities that disrupted social order.
"No one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands," he said, adding proper legal processes must be followed in all cases.
He said the BNP would reform the law enforcement system in line with its election manifesto and the party's 31-point agenda.
The reforms would focus on ensuring professionalism, accountability, and political neutrality within the police and other security agencies, he said.
Ahmed added the BNP aimed to build a transparent and people-friendly law enforcement system, where no individual or group was above the law.
Another BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said as per the party's manifesto, dismantling oligarchic structures, creating jobs, and building a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 would be the central priorities.
"Policy continuity and a comprehensive investment framework are essential to attract foreign investment," he said, setting a target of raising foreign direct investment (FDI) to 2.5 per cent of the GDP.
He said they had a plan to abolish the banking division under the Ministry of Finance, arguing that it hampered the independence of the banking and financial sector.
"We will appoint competent and professional individuals to regulatory bodies to ensure efficiency and politics-free function," he said.
After forming the government, he said, they would review non-performing loans (NPLs) and those responsible for loan irregularities would be brought to justice.
He also said the BNP would pursue strategic free-trade agreements with key countries and economic blocs across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Zonayed Saki, chief coordinator of Gana Samhati Andolon, an ally of the BNP, said the growing inflationary pressure had been hurting the common people by squeezing their wallets in recent times.
"We cannot bring down inflation to tolerable levels overnight. It takes time, but the alliance is committed to improving people's lifestyle by bringing down commodity prices to tolerable levels. We will formulate policies accordingly," Saki, who won the election from Brahmanbaria-6 constituency, said.
Inflation in Bangladesh went up for the third month in a row, with the overall rate rising to 8.58 per cent in January, up from 8.49 per cent in December, 8.29 per cent in November, and 8.17 per cent in October.
Saki said the alliance was committed to signing bilateral treaties considering people's interests first.
"If any deal is against the interests of our people, we will discuss that in parliament and take action accordingly," he added.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com and tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com