Asian Development Bank country director for Bangladesh Edimon Ginting on Monday underscored the need for improved governance in the country鈥檚 banking and revenue sector to keep the economy healthy and strong.
鈥楾he banking sector in Bangladesh is small compared to the need of the country and it needs to be bigger to support domestic investors,鈥� he said at the quarterly luncheon meeting organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka at its Gulshan office in the capital Dhaka.
Ginting said that to become bigger, the banking sector in Bangladesh has to be well managed and well governed.
鈥楤anking sector is the heart of the economy and if you govern your heart well you will be staying healthy and strong. So in that context I think that is the place to start,鈥� he said.
He said that governance in the National Board of Revenue was another important issue for Bangladesh.
The ADB country director mentioned that to become a middle-income country, governance in the NBR was important to ensure required spending on human resource development and social security.
鈥楽pending on improving equality also needs to increase. In that context revenue is important. There are many ways the revenue can be increased and hopefully that can be done rather quickly down the line in the future,鈥� he observed.
MCCI president Kamran T Rahman acknowledged the ADB鈥檚 assistance in developing Bangladesh鈥檚 climate resilience, infrastructure, social protection, job creation, and water and sanitation landscape.
During the open discussion, businesses and economists discussed the scope for ADB financing in the taka, ADB鈥檚 new rule of indirect financing in Bangladesh, the need for ADB funding in the development of social security and quality standards, the scope of ADB鈥檚 work in governance and enforcement of laws, and capacity development in Bangladesh.