Forex reserves under pressure, but no risk of Sri Lanka-like crisis: Planning minister

Bangladesh's forex reserves are under pressure but the country is not facing a crisis like Sri Lanka faced last year and the issue does not deserve the hype it is getting on media outlets, Planning Minister Muhammad Abdul Mannan said at a discussion session in the capital on Sunday.

The country is only beginning its foray into full-fledged financial markets and needs time to develop the necessary culture as well as the financial literacy base, he added. There will be mistakes during the journey, and there is no reason to be ashamed of the slips or to deny them, he pointed out. 

It is only natural that the central bank reserves would fluctuate, the planning minister said at the discussion session titled "The Banking and Financial Sector Reform: The Rols of Media and Press Freedom" jointly organised by Bangladesh Journalists' Forum for Consumers and Investors and The Bangladesh Express.

Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta said there is a malign force in the financial sector that allows a single group to own seven banks defying all pragmatic sense. Crony capitalists including politicians, businessmen and bank owners are collaborating to consume all the earnings of the countrymen.

It is said almost everyday that forex reserves have evaporated, but instead of such false news media focus should be on other issues like the flooding in northern districts, incessant rainfall and damages on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway, the minister noted.

Reserves get the chief focus to serve vested interests, he alleged. None inquired after forex reserves 40 years back, but still the country kept moving along, he informed the session.

Concerned stakeholders in the country should develop their financial knowledge base and also focus on productive works. "As we are a nation that lives hand-to-mouth, our officials should not rush to attend UN sessions on counting stars and other unproductive issues as they have been doing for many years," Abdul Mannan suggested.

These events allow for travelling abroad, but time for these leisure activities has not yet come. The countrymen have to engage in basic productive activities like cultivation and business to develop the national economy, the minister said.