BNP to ensure BB’s full independence: Khosru

“BNP is committed to empowering the central bank and decentralising government authority from the bureaucracy,” Amir Khosru said while speaking at the ‘Economic Reform Summit’ held at a city hotel.

He alleged that the FID was created with the sole purpose of controlling state-owned banks and facilitating ‘loot and plunder’ through politically favoured appointments of Managing Directors and board members.

“This division was created to control state banks. The purpose was to appoint preferred individuals as MDs and board members to facilitate looting,” he said.

Khosru said the previous BNP government had abolished the FID, but the Sheikh Hasina-led administration reinstated it. The BNP, he asserted, would once again abolish the division if voted back to office.

To reform the financial sector and restore discipline, the BNP leader said, the Bangladesh Bank must be granted full independence, going beyond mere autonomy. The party would implement comprehensive reforms to attract investment, he added.

Questioning the effectiveness of the recent split of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two divisions, Khosru argued that it would remain ineffective so long as the bureaucracy continues to control both parts.

 He hinted that BNP has a different plan for the NBR.

Regarding the bureaucracy, he said a future BNP government would not confront bureaucrats but rather reduce their responsibilities to promote decentralisation of power across all areas of governance.

Policymaking, he emphasised, should rest with policymakers, not the bureaucracy.

During the panel discussion, several experts shared their perspectives on the country’s economic challenges.

Energy expert Dr M Tamim pointed to a severe energy crisis, claiming that over the past 15 years, there had been no investment in local energy sources. Instead, “about US $30 billion was spent on setting up power plants, as this is where the maximum opportunity for corruption lay.”

Professor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of Dhaka University’s Development Studies Department argued that the outgoing government’s growth model fuelled poverty and unemployment, with the ‘so-called economic miracle’ concealing grim realities now becoming apparent.

He said rising inflation has eroded the purchasing power of ordinary people, pushing more households into poverty.

Rashed Titumir warned that an additional 30 lakh people could fall below the extreme poverty line, with 15 lakh young people unemployed and one in three university graduates without a job.

Prof Titumir described Bangladesh as standing at a ‘historical juncture’ that demands a new economic model for genuine progress.

Masrur Reaz, Chairman of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, highlighted that the absence of a national investment policy is deterring long-term investment and creating an imbalance between domestic and foreign capital.

He called for a comprehensive investment development strategy integrated with trade, export, and import policies.

Planning Commission General Economics Division Member Manzur Hossain, Jamaat-e-Islami USA Spokesman Nakibur Rahman, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Vice Chairman Mohammad Hassan Arif, CA professional Snehasish Barua, Counterpart Executive Editor Jyoti Rahman and Chaldal CEO Wasim Alim, among others, spoke at the event, reports UNB.