I was thinking out loud: While Bangladesh is on its way to becoming a middle-income country, ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth, what qualities should we look for in our future finance minister? Should he be a bureaucrat, a chartered accountant, an MBA, or a former banker?
Should he be a Harvard graduate or an engineer from MIT? It’s obvious for friends to ask: “Why not a she?” How old should the person be -- in their 30s or 40s, or maybe even their 80s? Should he or she be a university teacher, like what we are seeing with Greece’s finance ministers?
I don’t have any ready-made answers, just a wish-list. The other day, my Ford Motors executive friend from the US was asking me: “What qualifications do you require in becoming a minister in Bangladesh?” He was citing Saudi Arabia, how their central bank governor, petroleum minister, and finance minister were groomed up.
The co-ordinating general of the Bangladesh Army, who was in charge during the interim government, was telling me the story of Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed. He was very blunt in asking if, since we knew we had to focus on transformation, we were looking for someone like Shaukat Aziz in Pakistan, or Manmohan Singh in India? It is possible that he was unaware of individuals such as Sri Mulyani Indrawati of Indonesia, or Cesar Purisima in Philippines.
Despite serious governance issues, Bangladesh has been fairly lucky with its finance ministers. I never met Tajuddin Ahmad, but have heard a lot about him, his style of work, and his philosophy, from his colleagues at the finance ministry, especially the finance secretary from his time, Matiul Islam. Though the gentleman wanted to make Bangladesh a socialist country, his focus on service-delivery and discipline was quite respected -- he did his best to rebuild a war-ravaged Bangladesh.
People like AR Mallick, Major General Munim, Wahidul Haque, and M Syeduzzaman were all kind of stop-gap arrangements. Unfortunately, they could not do much to alter the growth trajectory of our country. They were mostly subdued by the man in command, or at least their vocal side-kicks. They mostly held onto the house. I won’t include the finance advisers during the interim caretaker governments, they were mostly “managing” with the help of their colleagues at the finance division.
Bangladesh possibly got its first proper finance minister in Mr Saifur Rahman. The gentleman had clear visibility about his plans for an emerging country like Bangladesh. He was focused as a terrific agent of change. No doubt, the late president Ziaur Rahman picked up his best colleague to drive this country forward.
Though he was a bit of a lone-wolf, he was at least a strong one. He used to speak his mind. I have seen with my own eyes what he did to make sure Adamjee Jute Mills was closed, to help this country rescue itself from bleeding all over the national balance sheet. He behaved like a MiG-29 pilot, his eyes glued on every crevice of the cockpit.
Mr SAMS Kibria was a true gentleman, but his brief tenure as finance minister yielded very little. There was no doubt that he was an honest man, who also possessed very good sartorial sensibilities. He lacked the necessary energy in commanding his fellow colleagues in the parliament.
The Awami League found its best finance minister in AMA Muhith. No matter who says what, he speaks his mind. He commands the respect of his colleagues in the ministry. His background and impressive academic credentials make him stand out. If the last seven years is to be a testimony, he has proven enough -- to be a good finance minister, you need to be honest, you need to listen to your lieutenants, and pay respect to your peers.
Yes, he was not able to bring in any dramatic changes in the way we do our budget or implement it for the broader public good, but he is able to maintain a dignified aloofness from the usual mess created in the Bangladesh finance industry. He has shown spirit, even though his timing may be a bit off.
To be a good finance minister in Bangladesh, one needs to be honest, not have any stake in individual or group business interests, or subside with any particular group. They may not be a student of Milton Friedman or John Maynard Keynes, but the individual must possess the respect of development partners and his colleagues.
He or she must have a fair understanding of political agendas of the government, and continuously try to sponsor new ideas for solution-building -- it is also quite important that the candidate possess adequate energy and intelligence to also “play it cool” among the league of nations.
