LDC graduation could cost Bangladesh $8 billion a year, says Dr. Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
She said that after graduation, duty-free benefits in the European market will be removed. In addition, development cooperation in the field of climate finance will also decrease. Our businessmen are not ready to face this challenge.
She said these things while speaking as the chief guest at the Shadow Parliament organized on the challenge of LDC graduation at the FDC in the capital yesterday.
The CPD Executive Director said that the economic data provided during the previous government was based on hearsay and politically motivated. Bangladesh was one of the leading countries in using economic data for political purposes. They used the data as they pleased by giving instructions to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). After LDC graduation, Bangladesh will have to take loans at commercial rates, which is difficult to repay and meet the loan conditions.
He said, there is always a doubt about China’s debt. While compliance is clear in the case of other countries’ loans, it is not in the case of China. One cannot fall into the debt trap in any way. In the last 15 years, there has been widespread waste, corruption and looting of loan money. This debt has become a burden due to the lack of a realistic plan to repay the debt. Caution must be exercised in taking foreign loans and good governance and accountability must be ensured in debt management.
Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron said, although the interim government has decided to make the necessary preparations for LDC graduation, the question is, ‘Are we going to transition to a developing country based on the false information of the Awami League government?’
He said, the economic development of the previous government was exaggerated. False stories of development were told with incorrect, false and exaggerated information. Lies were told about the country’s reserves, GDP, export earnings, poverty alleviation, food production, child marriage and even the actual population in the past. The BBS provided statistics as the government wanted. The situation was so bad that former Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith called the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data bogus at an event.
He also said that state money was wasted in the name of road shows abroad. The real information about the country’s defaulted loans was never made known. More loans were written off than were collected. The Bankers Association used to determine the interest rate and the value of the dollar from a five-star hotel. The Awami League government, through these four circles of the government, some politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, brought the country’s economy to the brink of destruction.
Although many economists believe that the data that the government has manipulated for more than a decade can be dealt with for LDC graduation. However, considering the current global economic and political situation, including financial sector irregularities and corruption, energy crisis, high inflation, rising interest rates, declining FDI, and lack of private investment during the previous government, there is a fear that Bangladesh will face the challenge of LDC graduation in 2026.
However, there is more than one and a half years left to graduate from LDC. Therefore, we have to prepare now to face its challenges. This will further enhance the country’s prestige, attract foreign investors. Opportunities for setting up new industries and factories will increase, more employment will be created. Domestic revenue will increase.
