According to Planning Minister MA Mannan, incentives should only be given to expatriates who regularly send remittances of $200 to $300 every month instead of everyone.
He also said that Bangladesh should gradually move away from subsidizing the agriculture sector as the rural scenario of the country has gotten better.
“The living standards in the villages have changed and the children are now being educated,” he added.
The minister spoke at a roundtable titled “Current State of the Macroeconomy: Bangladesh Perspective” jointly organized by the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF), and the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) in the capital on Sunday.
At the roundtable, he also mentioned the rising global price of fertilizers and its effects on Sri Lanka’s economy.
“Sri Lanka went for organic farming, but they failed and that is why we always give importance to our agriculture sector to ensure food security,” he added.
He also added: “There is a list of 1800 projects and these should be sorted according to importance. We need to find out what is needed first and what is needed later. These have to be rushed.”
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the CPD said that the Padma Bridge is a symbol of national aspiration.
“It should not only be used for transportation; it should be made an economic corridor. There were plans to build 17 economic zones around the Padma Bridge and these have to be realized. Then it will be able to contribute to the national economy and create employment,” he added.
Referring to institutional weaknesses, he said that institutional weaknesses are a big obstacle to development.
“As such, there are still many deficits in NBR’s tax collection. Per capita income is rising but the tax GDP is not. We need to make our institutions investment-friendly first, as growth requires investment,” he added.
Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the PRI, said that keeping the exchange rate stable is important along with increasing the value of the Taka.
“I am not saying that I support Russia, but it has to admit that the country has made the Ruble (Russian currency) attractive and we have to do the same,” he added.
He also said that the price of the US dollar was between Tk82 to Tk84 for a long time but it suddenly changed.
Regarding the budget, he said it is only 14% of the total GDP which is less than many countries.
“Moreover, a large expenditure of our budget goes to pay salaries and allowances. The rest of the money is used for the government’s development work. It is better to make the budget for at least 20% of the total GDP,” he added.
Binayak Sen, director-general of the BIDS, said that there is no reason for Bangladesh to be the next Sri Lanka.
“The four drivers that we have in our economy are satisfactory. There are no problems in the sectors like agriculture, export earnings and also the non-export manufacturing,” he added.
At present Bangladesh is in a better position than India and Pakistan although remittances have declined slightly, he added.
“I do not see any pressure at the moment as the imports are gradually falling from 60% to 28%,” he added.
Among others, M Masrur Reaz, chairman of the Policy Exchange Bangladesh, Abul Kashem Khan, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Saiful Islam, president of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), M Abu Eusuf, executive director of RAPID, Shubhashish Bose, CEO of ICAB, ERF General Secretary SM Rashidul Islam and AFP Bureau Chief M Shafiqul Alam also spoke in the roundtable.
