Debapriya doesn't know what govt will do with recommendations made in White Paper

Chief of the Committee on the White Paper on the State of Bangladesh's Economy Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said on Saturday that the formulators of the paper felt helpless when asked what the interim government would do with it.

"What will be done with the Whitepaper, we, the formulators, felt helpless. We felt a bit uncertain what is actually happening with the recommendations and analysis which has been put forward in the White Paper," he said.

Speaking at a symposium titled 'White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms and National Budget' at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), Dr Debapriya expressed these feelings.

The eminent economist of the country also mentioned that they have even seen that many in the government are talking with a tone of uncertainty regarding this paper.

"Many times they did not even say anything encouraging," he added.

The committee was formed on August 28 last year for the preparation of a comprehensive "White Paper" on the state of Bangladesh economy.

The committee was chaired by Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow at Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Convenor of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh.

Other members of the committee are - Prof AK Enamul Haque, dean, Faculty of Business and Economics, East West University; Ferdaus Ara Begum, chief executive officer, Business Initiative Leading Development; Imran Matin, executive director, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University; Dr Kazi Iqbal, research director, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS); Dr M Tamim, professor, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and former special assistant to the chief adviser (2008); Dr Mohammad Abu Eusuf, professor, Department of Development Studies, Dhaka University; Prof Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow, CPD; Dr Selim Raihan, professor, Department of Economics, Dhaka University, and executive director, South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem); Dr Sharmind Neelormi, professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University; Dr Tasneem Arefa Siddiqui, former professor, Department of Political Science, Dhaka University, and founding chair, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU); and Dr Zahid Hussain, former lead economist, World Bank Dhaka office and eminent columnist.

On December 1, 2024, the Committee submitted their report to the Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.