Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, head of the committee tasked with preparing a white paper on Bangladesh’s economy, has attributed the country’s ongoing economic fragility to “arbitrary politics and an illegal economy.” He emphasized that attempts to institutionalize a lawless economic system during the previous regime have deepened today’s economic challenges.
Speaking at a meeting with the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) held at the Planning Commission on Thursday, Dr. Debapriya said that a significant amount of capital has been smuggled out of the country, creating a “development narrative” that masks the impact of unregulated financial practices. In institutionalizing this lawless economy, authoritarian politics was also cemented, setting up a vicious cycle of lawlessness, he noted.
Dr. Debapriya highlighted the urgent need for judicial and political reforms to tackle issues of transparency, accountability, and governance. “Without reforms, transparency and accountability will remain hindered. Our future economic stability depends on how the political landscape unfolds,” he said.
The pace of necessary reforms, he added, will depend on the government’s confidence in the current economic framework and the level of public satisfaction. He said that sustained economic instability could impact political governance, urging that reform efforts be made a priority.
Also present at the meeting were committee members Dr. Zahid Hussain, former World Bank economist; Professor Mustafizur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD); Professor Selim Raihan of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM); and leaders from the ERF.