Former chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda yesterday said it was former finance minister Saifur Rahman who set the footing of the country’s economic discipline.
“Saifur was the main architect of Bangladesh’s economic discipline and we have to acknowledge it. His economic reforms were so strong and crucial that none could avoid those.
“He introduced stipends for girls, VAT and food for work programme. We now see these programmes getting broader,” Huda told a discussion arranged at the National Press Club to commemorate Saifur’s sixth death anniversary.
“What is important for politics is not good for economy, and sometimes there is a face-off between politics and economy,” he said.
“Shah Azizur Rahman passed an order that allowed lawmakers to import cars without paying taxes but Ziaur Rahman asked for Saifur’s opinion on this. Saifur opined against the order, saying that it could not be accepted and the order was invalidated. But later HM Ershad allowed parliamentarians to import cars tax free.”
The erstwhile chief election commissioner said Saifur enacted a law to take stern actions against loan defaulters.
Addressing the discussion, former Bangladesh Bank governor Saleh Uddin Ahmed said Saifur initiated economic reforms in Bangladesh even before reforms had been introduced in neighbouring India.
“Saifur was a successful finance minister. He never intervened in the central bank’s operations.”
Awami League’s former organising secretary Sultan Mohammad Monsur said Saifur acted in a non-partisan manner in spite of his involvement in BNP’s politics. “His development activities were not only confined to Sylhet but spread across the country.”
Monsur also said Saifur knew how to respect others.
“One day Saifur told me that Tajuddin Ahmed was a better finance minister than him.”