Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Fahmida Khatun on Saturday said the continuation of a short-term government for a longer period is not good for the economy.

“It hinders investment and employment,” she said while speaking in the shadow parliament on bank mergers at the FDC in the capital.

The event was organised by Debate for Democracy and its Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron presided over it.

 “The economy cannot run through a weak governance system. There is no proper economy without proper politics,” said Dr Fahmida, who is also a board member of Bangladesh Bank.

She said a political government is needed through quick elections to ensure order in the financial sector.

“It is not right to freeze bank accounts of businessmen indiscriminately. If there are no major deviations, the frozen accounts can be opened,” she said.

Otherwise, she said, there will be a huge impact on overall business, trade, poverty and employment.

The CPD executive director said although the decline in some economic indicators has been prevented in the past year, the crisis has not ended, poverty is not decreasing.

“There was no good governance in the banking sector during the previous government. Every indicator was in a very bad condition. Many banks were approved for political reasons than the size of the economy which is not seen anywhere in the world.”

In the past, she said, banks were used as a tool to increase their wealth.

“The process of the interim government's attempt to merge weak banks is quite complex and risky. There is confusion among people about this,” she added.

The debaters of Government Teachers Training College, Dhaka defeated the debaters of Southeast University in the shadow parliament titled “Bank mergers will restore discipline in the banking sector”.

At the end of the competition, the participating teams were awarded trophies, crests and certificates.