Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya on Thursday expressed his dissatisfaction as to why the assets amassed through looting had not been confiscated.
He made the question while talking in a discussion on 鈥楥urrent Economic Situation and Launching of Open Budget Survey 2023 Bangladesh Results鈥� in the capital.
鈥榃hat a revolution it is!鈥� Debapriya commended indicating the spirit of the mass uprising that ousted the Awami League regime and paved the way for the interim government assuming the power.
Debapriya, chief of the committee formed to prepare a 鈥榃hite Paper on the State of Bangladesh Economy鈥�, hoped that the confiscation of such assets would encourage people to pay taxes.
The event was organised by Research and Policy Integration for Development and the Economic Reporter鈥檚 Forum.
RAPID chairman Mohammad Abdur Razzaque said the next six months were crucial for the country鈥檚 economic recovery as the ousted regime took the economy to almost brink of ruination with reckless decisions.
He said that increasing forex reserve should be the top priority to check the inflation prevailing close to the double-digit for the past two years as he was describing the current economic situation.
Commenting on Razzaque鈥檚 observation, Debapriya said the country鈥檚 economic situation had been more complicated than the general apprehension.
He said that his committee had already identified the reckless decisions and mismanagement flaws by the previous regime in the white paper which will be made public on December 2.
Elaborating the steps taken by the interim government, especially on the economic front, he said worries and uncertainty were still there.
It should be assessed whether there was lack of confidences and patience among ordinary people, he said, adding that the ongoing reform programme might not be successful in absence of economic comfort.
Earlier, RAPID executive director M Abu Eusuf said the finance ministry should engage with vulnerable and underrepresented people, directly or through civil society organisations representing them.
Referring to country鈥檚 position on the 鈥極pen Budget Survey 2023鈥� of the global network International Budget Partnership, he said Bangladesh had scored 37 points in transparency and ranked 81st among 125 counties, while the global average of 61 indicates a country publishing enough data to support informed public.
Bangla daily Prothom Alo online editor Shawkat Hossain Masum and finance division joint secretary Anarul Kabir took part in the discussion as panelists.
Shawkat Hossain lamented that the budget speech nowadays had become merely documentary.
Anarul Kabir said several suggestions, including publishing a pre-budget statement, made by Abu Eusuf, relied on political decision.
