United News of Bangladesh

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), on Saturday urged the interim government to leave behind three critical legacies to help steer the nation back on track. The legacies he outlined are: making the gravity of corruption clear, tackling malgovernance and establishing an administrative framework conducive to building a balanced and sustainable economy. Delieving the introductory speech at a symposium titled “White Paper and Thereafter: Economic management, Reforms and National Budget” at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), the eminent economist said the government will have to expose the economic scenario of the country which has been suffering from corruption and malgovernance. “They (govt) have really exposed the amount of malfeasance, corruption and malgovernance we were afflicted with,” he said. Debapriya warns of reform fatigue amid economic challenges Dr Debapriya, who is also the chief of the committee on White Paper on Bangladesh's economy, chief said the government has to stabilise and consolidate the current macroeconomic situation of the country. In this connection, he pointed out inflation as one of the components. “But there are some others, and with this economic stability there is social security and individual security also involved.” But, he said, although the government has various types of steps in this connection, those are not effectively visible till now. Dr Debapriya said that no reform outline is visible to induce administrative structural change for building a balanced, inclusive and sustainable economy. “We do not see any reform agenda concerning the economy and the associated institutions and the regulatory framework along with that. No specific speech from the government has come so far.” BNP urges govt to revoke VAT-duty hike on over 100 products The CPD Distinguished Fellow said it has been heard that there is a process on to prepare a mid-term budgetary framework. “Planning Ministry has formed a taskforce; we are waiting for the report of that.” But, he said, if there is no midterm planning it might hinder the investment as it does not come for one year or one month. “For that investment it is needed to have a midterm vision, we do not see that at this moment,” he added.  

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, the chief of the committee on White Paper on the state of Bangladesh's economy, has cautioned that the pro-reform sentiment in Bangladesh may wane if the interim government does not accelerate its reform agenda. “That means the people who are now in favour of reforms at one stage might step aside from the balanced reforms due to the economic insecurity,” he said on Saturday. Speaking at a symposium titled ‘White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms and National Budget’ at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), Dr Debapriya stressed the urgent need to stabilise the economy. He outlined the importance of addressing growth trends, employment, poverty alleviation, and social security. “Currently, a confrontation is creating in our country centering election and reforms,” said Dr Debapriya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and convener of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs. He called for wide-ranging discussions on the upcoming budget, pointing to slowing growth, a lack of private sector investment, and employment challenges as pressing issues. “Specially, the growth rate is slowing down, no investment in the personal sector and problem in employment is there,” he said. Dr Debapriya criticised the interim government, led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, for not presenting a clear economic manifesto. He argued that this lack of a cohesive policy framework made it difficult to evaluate the While acknowledging isolated steps taken by the administration, he highlighted the absence of a comprehensive plan to build a balanced and inclusive economic system. “We need clarity on how the government plans to address issues such as LDC graduation and provide mid-term support to those lagging behind,” he said. The economist also pointed out that the interim government was operating under a budget formulated by the previous Awami League government. “This government has not placed a revised budget, rendering all indicators linked to the previous one irrelevant,” he observed. Debapriya slams 'inconsiderate' VAT hike by interim govt Dr Debapriya also criticised the lack of transparency regarding development projects. “Without a published policy for scrutinising these projects, it becomes challenging to assess their impact and feasibility,” he added. Debapriya alleged the corruption in Aman paddy collection is still going on like the previous Awami League tenure. “In Aman paddy procurement there was corruption in the previous time which is still exist,” he said. He said the country saw a record amount of Aman production, thanks to the farmers’ efforts.“But till now we do not see any success in collection,” he added. He also alleged that the farmers are being deprived of fair price like the past times. UN reappoints Dr Debapriya to Committee for Development Policy  

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, who led the committee that prepared the White Paper on the state of Bangladesh's economy, on Saturday strongly criticised the interim government for increasing value-added tax (VAT) ‘inconsiderately’. “We are astonished to see how inconsiderately the value-added tax was increased,” he said while delivering his introductory speech at a symposium titled ‘White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms, and National Budget’ at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC). The distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) stated that in any country, if the government aims to collect taxes effectively, it should gradually focus on direct taxes. VAT on hotels, restaurants to be revised to previous level: NBR “We did not see any plan to collect direct taxes,” he noted. Debapriya, who is also the convener of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, pointed out that no strategy has been proposed for individuals with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) who fail to pay taxes. LPG price slightly hiked after VAT structure change “That means you go first towards the indirect tax keeping aside the direct tax. This has made us concerned,” he added.    

Noted Economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya  on Thursday called for a ‘transitional policy understanding’ to overcome the ongoing financial turmoil in the country’s economy. "The main villain of the economy is the weakness of the financial sector. The reason for this is the lack of reforms that have been accumulating for a long time. Its effects are now visible. We are unable to move forward without a transitional policy,” he said. Debapriya, a distinguished fellow of think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), made the remarks at a media conversation with economic reporters on “Overcoming the Current Economic Challenges – Towards a Transitional Policy Understanding.” Also read: A roadmap needed for debt repayment of 20 mega projects: Debapriya “The current crisis is only a symptom of the disease, because of the lack of reform. He said that the government has to reduce the subsidy to deal with the crisis in the financial sector. But now it was more necessary to give subsidies to protect poor people to control inflation,” he said. He said Bangladesh’s economy is yet to go back to the pre-COVID benchmark and experiencing fragmented recovery and macroeconomic stability is under high stress, particularly due to inflationary pressure and unstable foreign exchange rate with the local currencies. Besides, the global economy’s prospects for FY23 --commodity price rise, supply chain disruption, and logistic, increase in transportation cost – are bad for Bangladesh, he argued. In such a situation the economy needs a transitional policy understanding for a period of 2-3 years to overcome the uncertainties (national and global) for stabilization and consolidation of the economy with a short-term outlook. Export-Import deficit of USD $33.25 billion, the current account deficit of $18.70 billion, and the overall external deficit of $5.38 million, these are the symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself, he mentioned. The revenue share in GDP did not go up more than 10 per cent of GDP, the share of income and asset tax in total revenue stagnated at around 30 per cent, and the budget deficit was increasingly being funded by borrowing from banks, all are the elements of fiscal mismanagement, he said. Also read: Food production, price control should get prioritised in budget: Dr. Debapriya In reply to a query, he said the recent fuel oil price hike is disagreeable and imprudent, the economy will not be benefited from this move in the current context domestic economic situation, he said. Debapriya pointed out that the government has cut subsidies in the oil sector, which are now diverted to pay the capacity charge of rental power plants. He urged to increase the interest of bank lending to 12 per cent for a moderate credit growth, and protect depositors increasing its rate to 8-9 per cent. He also called for ending the direct central bank’s interference in fixing the exchange rate, rather it should be fixed by the competitive market rate. In reply to another query, he said people will pay revenue eagerly when they can see transparency and adaptation in government expenditure including procurement.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has reappointed Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) as the member of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP). The new term of Dr Debapriya as a member of CDP will be for three years starting 1 January 2022. He will serve in the committee in his individual capacity. READ: Bangladesh must assess post-graduation IPR implications, says  Debapriya Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations on December 13 made the announcement, according to a media release issued on Saturday. The CDP, a subsidiary body of the United Nations, is entasked to provide independent advice to ECOSOC on development policy issues. READ: Dhaka-Beijing ties can be prime mover for Bangladesh’s transformation: Debapriya The committee is also responsible for deciding inclusion in and graduation from the least developed countries (LDCs) group.