AL distorted data to paint rosy picture of Bangladesh economy: Debapriya
He also criticised foreign donors for lauding the AL government’s economic projections, which he said questioned the international community’s diligence
The White Paper on Bangladesh's economy shows how data was distorted during the Awami League era to present a rosy picture of the economy instead of the real scenario, said Debapriya Bhattacharjee, the head of the White Paper Committee.
Presenting the white paper to Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus today (1 December), the prominent economist also criticised foreign donors for lauding the AL government's economic projections, which he said questioned the international community's diligence.
"Democratic accountability was ignored during the AL rule. We have viewed the last three elections held under the AL government as the starting point of this decline. A centralised autocratic system was created, and our development journey faced problems due to a confluence of politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats," Debapriya further said.
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The head of the committee further said structural problems of the country have been shown in 30 chapters of the White Paper.
"We have talked about institutional reforms in the White paper. We have said the problems that the interim government found after taking office were deeper than the problems that we thought were prevalent," Debapriya said.
Debapriya also said the White Paper presents an economic outlook of how Bangladesh as a country malfunctioned during the Awami League rule.
Debapriya made some proposals to the CA while presenting the White Paper, which included economic stability, recommendations about budget and graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status.
"Our first proposal to the government is to give importance to economic stability and ensure accountability for this aspect. Our second proposal is to create a comfortable work plan before the budget is presented and approved. Another proposal by us is to utilise the time that we have for swift graduation from LDC status," he said.
Stating that the white paper tries to answer what happened and how it all happened instead of what to do now, Debapriya thanked the government for not exerting any pressure on the committee during the preparation of the paper.
"We found huge expectations from the public when we consulted them, tackling which have become a big challenge. We want constructive discussion based on data and information, and we will try so that the White Paper does not focus on political issues," Debapriya said.
