Corruption in large-scale public projects has caused an average cost escalation of 70 per cent and delays of over five years, according to the white paper on the state of the economy. Of the $60 billion invested in ADP and development projects over the past 15 years, $14–24 billion (1.61–2.80 lakh crore BDT) has been lost to political extortion, bribery, and inflated budgets, according to the white paper. The document was submitted to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus by Dr Debopriya Bhattacharya, head of the white paper committee, on Sunday. The paper said that the misappropriation of funds during land acquisitions and the appointment of patronised project directors have further strained resources, undermining potential benefits from infrastructure and social investments. Debapriya unveiled the report to the media at the NEC room in the Planning Commission on Monday. It said that systemic tax evasion, misuse of exemptions, and poorly managed public finances have deprived the state of critical resources, stalling development. Between 2009 and 2023, illicit financial outflows averaged USD 16 billion annually—more than double the combined value of net foreign aid and FDI inflows. Moreover, halving tax exemptions could double education funding and triple health allocations, underscoring the significant fiscal opportunities lost to corruption. Read: Corruption ravages Bangladesh’s key sectors, reveals White Paper The paper mentioned that manipulated domestic production figures and understated demand for key commodities, such as rice, edible oil, and wheat, have destabilised markets. Erratic and politically influenced procurement policies have benefited powerful business groups while exacerbating consumer hardships. The absence of robust regular stock monitoring has only compounded these distortions. In the banking and financial systems, the politically influenced lending practices have deepened the banking sector crisis, with distressed assets (as of June 2024) equivalent to the cost of constructing 14 Dhaka Metro systems or 24 Padma Bridges. Persistent loan defaults and high- profile scams have eroded financial stability and diverted capital away from productive sectors. Over the last decade, BDT 13.4 lakh crore (BDT 1.34 trillion) has been funnelled through hundi transactions by recruiting agencies for visa purchases—an amount four times the cost of constructing Dhaka MRT 06 (Uttara-Motijheel). Syndicates and exploitative recruitment practices have deprived migrant workers of equitable access to employment and diminished remittance contributions to the economy. In the social safety nets, misallocations within social protection programmes have left millions of people vulnerable. As of 2022, 73 per cent of social safety net beneficiaries were classified as non-poor, a significant increase from 66 per cent in 2016. Over 20 million individuals remain just two days of lost work away from falling into poverty, highlighting the systemic inequities exacerbated by corruption. Read more: $16bn siphoned off annually during Hasina's regime: White Paper In the environmental mismanagement sector corruption within climate adaptation funding has exacerbated environmental degradation. Politically patronised mismanagement of climate resources has derailed sustainability initiatives, threatening long-term resilience against climate-induced risks.

The inquiry commission formed to investigate incidents of enforced disappearances during the Awami League regime has uncovered eight secret detention centres where detainees were reportedly tortured over the years. “Eight secret detention centers more horrific than “Aynaghor” have been detected,” Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, head of the Commission,  said at a press conference at Gulshan in the capital on Tuesday. Around 1,600 complaints of enforced disappearance have so far been filed and 400 complaints are under investigation, he said. Among these, 172 complaints were lodged  against the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), 37 against the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit (CTTC), 55 against the Detective Branch (DB), 26 against the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), 25 against the police, and 68 against others. Read: Identify masterminds of enforced disappearances, killing: Salahuddin Besides, over 200 victims of enforced disappearance have remained untraced, said the chief of the commission. Earlier on August 27, the government formed a five-member commission to search of individuals who were made disappeared by the law enforcement agencies during the 15-year rule of Awami League. The commission was formed to investigate cases of enforced disappearances through law enforcement agencies from January 1, 2010, to August 5 of the current year, identify the disappeared persons, and determine under what circumstances they were disappeared.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday (July 01, 2023) said the current regime will be forced to concede to their demand for holding the next election under a non-party government as their party is going to launch a different type of movement involving the masses. Talking to reporters at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he, however, assured that they will not announce any harsher programmes like hartal and blockade to avoid street violence. “It’ll undoubtedly be a little different from the previous movements and the involvement of the people will also increase,” the BNP leader said. Also read: BNP's movement to boil down to single point 'soon': Fakhrul He also said they are confident that there will be huge involvement of mass people, especially the young ones, in their one-point anti-government movement. “We believe that the government will finally be forced to concede and resign to hold the next election under a neutral government,” Fakhrul said. He claimed that their party’s recent youth rallies in different cities and districts evoked overwhelming response. Also read: It’s govt’s far-reaching political conspiracy, says Fakhrul about fresh case against Zia “We’ll now begin (road) march programmes. We hope that we’ll kick off the one-point movement in the future,” the BNP leader said. He said the one-point demand will be the combination of the BNP’s 10-point and the other opposition parties’ different demands with the objective to force the Awami League regime to quit, dissolve parliament, and arrange the national polls under a caretaker government by reconstituting the Election Commission. “The one-point demand is basically the resignation of this government.” Asked about the nature of the new-type of movement, the BNP leader said they are consciously avoiding any harsher programmes like hartal and blockade. Also read: Govt to blame for US’s disrespectful visa policy: Fakhrul “There is no reason for us to resort to violence. If the government somehow pushes the movement in that direction, then they’ll be held responsible for it. We’re carrying out the movement peacefully and we want to go to the final stage of it peacefully." Fakhrul, who returned to Dhaka in the afternoon from his home district Thakurgaon after celebrating the Eid-up-Azha, talked about different political issues while exchanging Eid greetings with journalists.