Economist Rehman Sobhan on Saturday said that the top priority of the interim government should be creating an enabling environment for investment so that people felt discouraged from sending money abroad.
鈥楳ake the Bangladesh economy and Bangladesh society involved in politics a place where people will give priority to invest rather than sending money abroad for families,鈥� he said while participating in the concluding session of a symposium on 鈥榃hite Paper and thereafter鈥� arranged jointly by the White Paper Committee 2024 and the Citizen鈥檚 Platform for SDG.
Money laundering would remain as a major problem, which would be a major challenge for the interim government also in its tenure over the next one year, said the economist during the daylong symposium moderated by Centre for聽 Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Participated in by at least three dozen speakers, the event was a major one to discuss the performance of the interim government that assumed power on August 8, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina who fled to India amid a student-mass uprising, creating high expectations for better performance.聽聽
At the symposium, participating businesspeople, economists and academicians were critical about the interim government鈥檚 鈥榠nertia鈥� in bringing reforms in fiscal measures and for increasing the value added tax on many products amid high inflation, while the interim government advisers attending the event expressed displeasure with the bureaucracy.
Debapriya Bhattacharya, who led a 12-memebr White Paper committee, called the VAT increase a reckless decision although commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin defended the decision.
The adviser said that indirect taxes were critically important for an unregulated market like Bangladesh and direct taxes were good for the developed economy.
Executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, however, welcomed the criticisms of the interim government.
鈥楰eep on pushing so that the interim government works,鈥� he said, expressing displeasure with the execution of the decisions.
Social welfare adviser Sharmeen S Murshid castigated bureaucrats at a session titled 鈥楳edium-term outlook and plan鈥�.
鈥楶oliticians come and go, but bureaucrats stay,鈥� she said, adding that the bureaucrats need to be disciplined and good governance must be established in the bureaucracy.
Describing her plight, Sharmeen S Murshid further said that her ministry faced serious problems when some efficient officers were recently transferred to elsewhere.
Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy on international affairs to the chief adviser, called for behavioural change at the 鈥楨conomic reforms and institutions鈥� session.
He also described the government initiative to open single window to facilitate different public services and prevent rent seeking behaviour, he said, remarking that it was imperative for the senior bureaucrats not to set opinions for the junior officers.
Economist Anu Muhammd criticised the interim government, saying that it hardly tried to revive the institutions destroyed by the Awami League-led regime.
Being critical of the VAT increase, the economist said that the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank should be made accountable.
At the session titled 鈥楥ritical reflections鈥�, Rehman Sobhan answered that the diagnosis of the problems was not correct, as he was asked why problems on money laundering, low tax-GDP ratio, corruption, data problems,聽 poor quality of education, poor healthcare and defaulted loans could not be tackled over the years.
He also remarked that the problems intensified during the past 15 years under the autocratic regime of Awami League.
Rehman Sobhan noted that the much-needed reforms to overcome the deep-rooted structural weaknesses could not be solved by reform initiatives of the interim government alone.
Political parties should also carry forward those reforms, he added.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽
