The government has undertaken three major reform initiatives to improve the reliability of national statistics and address inconsistencies in official data, particularly in the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP) during the previous administration.

A joint study by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and the Planning Ministry reportedly identified significant flaws in the previous GDP estimation methodology, raising questions about the accuracy of the country’s economic figures.

The findings were presented at a discussion marking National Statistics Day 2026 on Sunday (November 8), jointly organised by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the Statistics and Informatics Division.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said manipulating data amounted to deceiving oneself, stressing that reliable information was essential for effective policymaking and development planning.

He said the review of previous statistics was aimed at identifying underlying problems and correcting errors rather than simply blaming the former government. He also emphasised that government data belonged to the people and should be made more accessible to ensure transparency and accountability.

Officials outlined three key reform measures. The first involves adopting internationally recognised standards and scientific methods for calculating GDP and other macroeconomic indicators, alongside introducing geolocation-based monitoring to verify household visits by field-level data collectors.

The second initiative will introduce the Proxy Means Test (PMT) system to identify genuine beneficiaries of social safety net programmes and prevent irregularities in the distribution of government assistance.

The third measure involves developing a Digital Public Infrastructure by integrating national identity card information with birth and death registration and population databases.

Planning State Minister Zunaid Saki said the previous GDP figures had raised serious doubts about their actual economic basis. He added that the government had also taken steps to prevent political interference in statistical reporting.

He said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was now being published automatically through a computer-assisted system in a central database, removing the need for ministerial approval before publication.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Planning Rashed Al Titumir alleged that statistics had previously been manipulated to mislead the public.

Citing discrepancies in past data collection, he said a previous boat census recorded only 13,000 engine-powered boats, while an actual count found 267,000.

He further claimed that flawed data had contributed to irregularities in social safety net programmes and that 8 million people had fallen below the poverty line during the previous government’s tenure.

Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Zahir Uddin Swapon said the government would formulate an open data policy through consultations with relevant stakeholders to ensure public access to reliable information.

The programme was chaired by Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Md Firoz and attended by senior officials from relevant ministries, departments and the BBS.