The Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) yesterday awarded six economic reporters for their best business reporting.
The awards were given in four categories.
Monzur Ahmed of the daily Prothom Alo and Obaidullah Rony of the Daily Samakal jointly bagged the award in the banking category.
Fakhrul Islam and Sujoy Mohajan, both from the Prothom Alo, got the award in consumer rights and capital market category respectively.
Under macroeconomic category, Sohel Parvez of The Daily Star, received award while Alamgir Hossain of Jamuna Television won the award under TV reporting category.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith handed the awards at a ceremony titled ERF Nights held at the Sonargaon hotel in the city.
Shamsul Huq Zahid, deputy editor of The Financial Express and Shahiduzzaman, editor of the News Network were given the gratitude awards for their contributions in founding the ERF.
Wahiduddin Mahmud, a noted economist of the country, was awarded the lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the economy.
Addressing the ceremony, Finance Minister said: “I feel proud of being a part of the current pace of the economic development in Bangladesh and would like to thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for giving me the opportunity at the fag end of my life.”
“I am very lucky. I used to dream that the country would march forward. Today, Bangladesh is no longer a basket case,” he added.
Rehman Sobhan, a prominent economist, urged the finance minister to create budgetary resources to encourage investigative reporting in the country.
He also called upon the government to make all the projects related information, its progress and escalating costs available by putting on the website.
ERF President Sultan Mahmud and General Secretary Sajjadur Rahman spoke on the occasion.
