Transparency and accountability of bureaucrats must be ensured to speed up the country’s ongoing development, economists said on Saturday. Otherwise, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government’s all initiatives to make Bangladesh a developed country will go in vain, they opined.
They said, the government must ensure market-friendly regulator, facilitator and governor to increase production capability of the country, aiming to become a developed country by 2041. To increase competition among businesses, the government should control the market with a strong hand as a referee, they said.
A serious gap and discrimination has developed considerably in the society as influential and powerful individuals’ interests are being served by the regulators. The economists came up with these observations at the national seminar on "Income and Wealth Disparity in Bangladesh" organized by the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) in the city.
Prof Mainul Islam of Chattogram University said, “The major obstacle to checking corruption is that the benefits of GDP growth due to self-sufficiency capitalism are being tied to the elite of the society,” he said. At the same time, the majority of the lower and middle class people are deprived of their fair share of growth, he mentioned.
He said, “A gap and discrimination among income and wealth have affected maintaining development of the country.” Although the country has witnessed rapid growth in many criteria of the economy, it could progress more if the government ensured equal interest to all citizens of the country, he said.
He said, “We see discrimination in every sector of the country including education, health, and banking.” Former governor of Bangladesh bank Dr Mohammed Farashuddin said, “Bangladesh is in the best position in all indicators of human development except for maternal mortality in South Asia.”
The income inequality in the country is increasing, he said, adding that the country should not judge development on only per capita income.
We need to make sure that the share of the growth is distributed to marginalized people of society, he said. The country cannot develop without ensuring all facilities for all citizens, he added.
He said, “The per capita income of more than one billion people in Bangladesh is above $ 4,000. But only 2 million people pay taxes.” Therefore, the government has to take a strong role in collecting taxes from high income people, especially in implementing the progressive tax system. BEA president Abul Barakat emphasized on the fairness of the distribution of wealth saying we have to see whether it actually works for human development.
Professor Dr Shafiq Uz Zaman, of department of Economics at Dhaka University, KAS Murshid, director general of Bangladesh Development Research Institute and Jamaluddin Ahmed, general secretary of the Economic Association also spoke on the occasion.