Our goal is to reduce inflation to 7 percent by next June. To reduce it to 5 percent by the next fiscal year. The main goal is to reduce inflation to 4-5 percent. This goal will be achievable, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur.

He said these things at a discussion organized at the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) Auditorium today, Wednesday (December 4), titled ‘Tipping Points of Reform Agenda for the Turnaround of the Banking Sector of Bangladesh’.

Ahsan H. Mansur said, due to the floods, the prices of vegetables and food items are high in the current market. It will come down someday. If we can reduce inflation to 7 percent, we will reduce the interest and policy interest rates of banks.

He said, the economic sector has been lagging behind for the last 10-12 years. None of the four pillars of the economy – banking, stock market, insurance, bond market – are strong in our country. We have not been able to develop the bond market. The condition of insurance and stock market is pathetic. As a result, the banking sector alone has to shoulder a big responsibility in our country. If we cannot find long-term sources of the economy, we will remain dependent on the banking sector.

The central bank governor also said that the country does not have money. The reserves were 48 billion dollars; which has now become 24 billion. That is, the rest of the money has gone out. If we cannot increase deposits, the money goes out, then there will be no growth in the banking and economic sectors. To change this situation, money laundering must be stopped.

Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmed, the head of the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and four deputy governors of Bangladesh Bank, Kabir Ahmed, Md. Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Md. Habibur Rahman and Nurun Nahar, among others, also spoke at the discussion meeting.