Economy is complementary to state and politics. If you want to reform the state and politics in the formation of the country, first of all, you need to reform the economy. It is not possible to move forward without reforming the economy.
On Saturday (October 26) at noon, the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) organized a 'Dialogue for Democratic Reconstruction' at BIISS; The speakers said this in the dialogue titled 'Economic Policy Context'.
In the dialogue, the speakers said, the basis of our statistics is false. We have to get out of there. Statistics need to be fixed. Economic structure should be brought under automation. Diversity of export products should be increased. The scope of income tax should be increased. And of course these are not possible without political consensus. If we can create political consensus then we can solve other problems including inflation.
Munira Khan, chair of Center for Governance Studies (CGS), said how thousands of crores of money were smuggled out of the country, we must bring reforms here. Trafficking is still going on. When the media and banks say that 10 banks are weak, the people of those banks will withdraw money. He will either hide the money at home or smuggle it out of the country.
CGS executive director Zillur Rahman said that the crisis of trust was there during the previous government and is still there. The crisis of confidence must be overcome. Political stability is very important that comes into these discussions. If that is not ensured, economic stability will not come. Again, if there is no economic stability, the political crisis will not go away.
Former president of FBCCI. Jasim Uddin said, two things are completely killing us - one is banking good governance, the other is energy sector. Our policies must involve those who are concerned. We do policies where affiliates have no relationship. As a result, that policy is not realistic. It is not implemented.
President of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury said, "Currently, none of us are at ease." We are going backwards from where we are. Industries are not getting gas. Industries are not protected. Who will we talk to? No one will be well if there is such uncertainty.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) president Sabur Khan said that statistics are the key to development. I want all the statistics of the country to be correct. Our main problem is statistics. We give loans from banks but we don't see whether the person we are lending to has assets in his tax file. Everyone in the world has a credit rating but we don't.
Those who speak well are not needed. He added that people who can work without talking are needed.
Professor of Economics Department of Dhaka University. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir said, our main problem is that industrialization is not happening. Our main employment is in the informal sector. We are not getting employment in the formal sector. We are not doing any work by showing the image of Professor Yunus.
Professor of Economics Department of Dhaka University. M. Abu Yusuf said, there are many big questions about the data of our GDP and population. First we need to fix the data. Then we can measure how much food will be needed. That's why we need to fix the information space.
Former NBR chairman Mohammad Abdul Mazid said that if there is no transparency in revenue collection, it will affect the overall product price including price inflation. We see that politicians have become bureaucrats and bureaucrats have become politicians. We have to get out of there. We have tariff commission here but they don't fix the price of anything, there also needs to be reformed.
President of BARVIDA Abdul Haque said, we have to think about whether we can make a cooperative society to control market inflation. Industrialized countries like Japan still have cooperatives. Bribes were taken in dollars. It has been kept in the vault of the bank. Many people have crores of money at home, measures should be taken to bring them to the bank.
Dhaka University Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Sayema Haque Bidisha said that small and micro entrepreneurs should be brought under protection through government support. In many cases banks don't want to lend to them, even in that case we have to take policy decisions so that they get loans.
He said, in terms of employment, we still do not have any specific roadmap for less educated and highly educated youth. Industries should build relationships with highly educated unemployed people. Again we can help them in employment by creating economic zones in different parts of the country.
Prosenjit Chakma, the former resident representative of UNDP Bangladesh, said that not only should there be non-discrimination in the case of tribals, but there should be positive discrimination in their case. They should be brought under the safety net. Small entrepreneurs should be created among them. We need to involve them all with various help.
Shahidul Islam Zahid, professor of banking and insurance department of Dhaka University, said that we know all those who are defaulters on purpose, we have tried to keep them secret before, maybe we are still doing it. Legal action should be taken against them.
To revive the banks, public confidence must be restored. That is why we have to take measures to regularize the loans of those we have given loans to. Even if it is reduced, it should return to the bank regularly, he said.
Suprabha Sova Zaman, a student of Dhaka University's Department of Economics, said, We have to challenge crony capitalismNo matter how many reforms the interim government does, the reforms will be axed by whichever government comes to power if they do not go into the universal process.
