Debapriya questions about interim government's progress on economic reforms

Noted economist and Distinguished Fellow of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya has said that there have been a great deal of conversations about reforms in constitution, police force, local government, electoral system, judicial service etcetera but it's not at all clear to what extent reforms were done with Bangladesh's economy during last six months under the present interim government. Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya also headed the team that prepared a White Paper on the country's financial standings a few months ago.

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said that this government has postponed the immediate past government's eighth five-year plans and midterm plans but no substitute plans were launched. For this reason investors are not feeling encouraged to engage their money in industrial sectors, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya remarked. He also expressed suspicion about the continuation of the policies which are being formulated right now.

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya presented the above observations while addressing the closing session of the 6th Bangladesh Economics Summit 2025 as the chief guest. It was organized by the Economic Studies Center of Department of Economics, Dhaka University on Thursday (17 April 2025). The summit went on for three days.

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya told the audiences that different economic aspects were analyzed in the White Paper and benchmarks were depicted but it's not yet vivid to the country's people where Bangladesh's economy will be standing six months or one year later. No such goal has been specified, he added.

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said that the budget the interim government is now working on was made by the immediate past regime. No significant changes have been postulated in light of which the current ruling authorities can be assessed, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said.

Another CPD Distinguished Fellow Mostafizur Rahman said "Economic discrepancies were the driving force behind the July Uprising. During the immediate past government's tenure expenditures on different projects were highly over evaluated and multiplied repeatedly and investments were made without proper calculation of economic advantages whereas the budget allocations for development programs were totally based on loans. During that time these things could not be questioned. However, relevant questions should be asked in future for the prevalence of good governance."

Mostafizur Rahman also said that a wide range of money laundering from Bangladesh to foreign countries took place during the ousted government's ruling period. Perhaps the overthrown rulers could presume that something like August 5 could happen any moment, Mostafizur Rahman further said.

Chairperson of Economics Department, Dhaka University Professor Masuda Yeasmin and Executive Director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) Professor Selim Rayhan addressed the event among other dignitaries.