Interim govt carving out path to prevent money laundering: Finance adviser

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has said the interim government has started carving out a path that will prevent future governments from laundering money.

“No matter if they are public-oriented or private-oriented, these governments will not be able to take advantage in the future,” he said.

“We will leave behind footprints through the reform works we are undertaking. At least so the next government can follow in our footsteps.”

He opined that it is impossible to imagine from outside the extent of the damage that has been done to Bangladesh’s economy.

"No other country in the world has so much chaos in the economic sector. Still, whatever development has happened, farmers have played a big role in it."

His remarks came during his speech as the chief guest at a seminar titled 'Policy Dialogue on Financial and Economic Reforms in Bangladesh' organised by BRAC University at Merul Badda in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

 “What happened to us was a mistake in the development strategy. The trend of only focusing on visible development in the economy should be changed," he said.

He blamed "subsidies and middlemen" as the reason why prices have not come down despite the reduction of import duties on most essential goods.

Salehuddin said that some middlemen are needed.

"But because of them, the prices of products increase. We are trying to reduce the number.”

Honourary Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue Debapriya Bhattacharya also criticised the development narrative and said, "If we cannot dissect the development narrative, then it is not possible to move forward."

The problem with development trajectories is the politicisation of data in the picture we are given of growth, he said.

As a result, it is seen that GDP is increasing but private sector investment is not increasing, said the economist.

To show that the data is questionable, he said that while GDP has risen, the tax-to-GDP ratio has not increased.

Noting that it was stuck at 8-9 per cent for many years, he asked where the money had gone.

He also pointed to the ‘imbalances’ in different sectors and says this may have already led Bangladesh into a middle-income trap.

Debapriya said that an ‘anti-reform alliance’ and a ‘pro-corruption’ class have been formed in the country.

“Two pillars of Bangladesh are the finance and energy sectors. These two sectors have been eaten up.”

He said an ‘oligarch’ class was behind it and called for its destruction.

But, without repairs to the state, one cannot proceed with ‘two-penny reforms’, Debapriya said.

He appealed to the interim government to focus on ‘economic stability’ first and to restore stability to the prices of necessities and the exchange rate.