Cashless Bangladesh in two years?

The minister said the government is working to develop the information technology sector and aims to make a digital Bangladesh by 2021. He made the comment after inaugurating a workshop called “Digital payments for Digital Bangladesh: Building an ecosystem for all” at the prime minister's office. He said the government wants to combat corruption and create good governance with a monetary system which does not involve cash. The speakers at the programme emphasised the growth in mobile banking transactions, pointing out the growth at 120% since 2011. Although the use of technology has increased it is not widespread enough for the kind of developmental strides the government wants to make in this sector, the speakers opined. They hoped that the use of this technology would be used to by the government in paying pensions and social benefits which would reduce their expenditures by 10%. But a lot of high officials of the government themselves do not use the digital payment systems, the speakers also said. They said a proper online identity protection mechanism must be used for people to feel secure enough to use the digital banking system as widely as the government hopes. Finance Department Additional Secretary Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, Access to Information, Project Director, Kabir Bin Anwar, UNDP Country Director Sudipta Mukharjee and Better Than Cash Alliance, Managing Director, Ruth Godwin Greyon also addressed the program.