9:07 AM
Finance minister AMA Muhith yesterday said Bangladesh strongly needs to resist some of its development partners from raising interest rates and other loan-related charges, considering that it is still a lower-middle-income country.
“We won’t become a middle-income country before 2021 and then the facilities that we're enjoying now will be reduced. But some of our development partners have already given us notices for increasing their rates of interest on loans,” he said.
“According to World Bank (WB) calculations, Bangladesh is now a lower-middle-income country in terms of per capita income. Therefore, any attempt to raise interest rates and loan-related charges must be resisted very strongly,” he added.
Muhith was addressing the audience at the presentation of the draft report for comprehensive high-level mid-term review of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for least developed countries (LDCs) for 2011-20 at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) conference room at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed spoke as a special guest at the programme, which was chaired by ERD senior secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin. ERD additional secretary Muhammad Alkama Siddiqui made a PowerPoint presentation on the draft report of Bangladesh. Secretaries of different ministries and divisions, and other high officials attended the meeting. Muhith said that although WB has termed Bangladesh a lower-middle-income country, Bangladesh is yet to become a middle-income country as per the United Nations criteria. He also said the review meeting of the Committee of Development Policy of UN in this regard would be held in 2018, when a decision would be taken on Bangladesh and some other countries. He explained that even if the UN considers Bangladesh as a middle-income country, it would take another three years before the final declaration comes. “So, we won’t become a middle-income country before 2021,” he said.
The finance minister pointed out that even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been saying that Bangladesh would be a middle-income country by 2021. He said Japan, one of the largest bilateral development partners of Bangladesh, has consulted with the government about raising their interest rates. “But I've already told them that we're not in such a position (to pay higher interests),” he added. Tofail Ahmed said the WB has already announced that Bangladesh has a lower-middle-income status and the world has accepted it.
The veteran minister said eradication of poverty still remains the main target of the government. Though the percentage is coming down substantially, about four crore people still remain below the poverty line. Agreeing that poverty is “still a serious problem for Bangladesh”, Muhith said its eradication should continue to be the priority.
About the education sector, the finance minister said secondary education is in the doldrums. According to him, nationalisation is a “curse” for an institution. When an institution becomes nationalised, it comes to the verge of destruction as teachers tend to come to Dhaka instead of staying on in their own areas, he added.
Muhith said serious action should be taken in this regard, adding that he has already discussed the issue with the Prime Minister. He also said that even if a college is nationalized, the teachers should not be allowed to take a transfer. Talking about the activities of NGOs in Bangladesh, the finance minister said they are doing a good job for the country, though there are some problems and difficulties.
Tofail Ahmed said he firmly believes that given the recent progress, Bangladesh will reach its goal.
He also said that though RMG (readymade garments) still represents 80 per cent of the country’s overall export earnings, efforts are on to diversify more products and markets in line with the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
He further said apart from the US, Bangladeshi products have already got duty and quota-free access in countries like China, Japan, South Korea and even in Chile, while efforts are on to get duty-free access in Brazil and Argentina.
The report on the implementation of IPoA in Bangladesh has been prepared for the UN-convened high-level mid-term review of IPoA to be held in Turkey in June 2016. According to the draft report, by 2015, Bangladesh had stepped forward to achieve for the first time two of the three criteria for graduation from an LDC. Since the review of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in 2000, Bangladesh has remained at or above the graduation threshold value of the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI).
Independent
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