External interference and aid dependency have affected the independence of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics seriously over the past two decades, said a government task force report released on Monday.
It said that unnecessary interference by the Statistics and Informatics Division of the planning ministry had limited the freedom of the centralised official body for collecting statistics and disseminating the information.
Referring to the allocation of business of the division, which was the Statistics Division before its renaming in 2012, the task force report said that the division should have a little role in data collection, authentication and data release.
Noting that the collection and dissemination of data are responsibilities of the BBS, the task force report also identified that as long as the division would perform such responsibilities, the independence of BBS would not be meaningfully established.
Led by Power and Participation Research Centre executive chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman, the task force on strengthening the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics was established in April 28, 2025, against the backdrop of doubts over credibility of data produced during 15 years of rule of the Awami League before being ousted on August 5,2024, amid a mass uprising.
The BBS later had to downsize the gross domestic product size by about $9 billion from an initial estimate of $459 billion to about $450 billion for the 2023-24 financial year due mainly to discrepancies in export earnings.
Besides, food inflation jumped to a 13-year high to 14 per cent in Bangladesh in July 2024. The data was released in August when the interim government assumed power.
Policymakers said that the release of data showing sharp increase in food inflation in July from 9 per cent in June was possible as there was no interference in the BBS calculation after the political changeover.
The task force identified external interference in the bureau鈥檚 data release process as one of the most persistent challenges undermining the credibility of the BSS that had become dependent on aid from donors since 2006-07 to create data, dictated externally.
Despite BBS鈥檚 formal mandate to produce and disseminate official statistics, the timing and accessibility of key reports had often been compromised by political sensitivities, donor dependencies and bureaucratic oversights, said the report.
Giving examples of the delayed launch and release of the recent Household Income and Expenditure survey, delays in making public inflation data in 2024 and the release of Bangladesh Urban Health Survey in 2013 after conducting in 2006, the task force said that the delays had not only eroded public trust but also diminished the policy relevance of statistical outputs.
The task force report was released at a seminar arranged by the BBS on the occasion of National Statistics Day in the capital Dhaka.
Planning adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud addressed the seminar that was also attended, among others, by Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, special assistant for the finance ministry, and Hossain Zillur.
Wahiduddin said that they were waiting for the full report to carry out reform in the BBS.
In its recommendations, the task force wants a revision to the allocation of business of the Statistics and Informatics Division to ensure an appropriate balance between the division and the BBS so that professional relevance and jurisdiction of respective entities are reflected properly.
Besides, the task force has called for a sweeping reform package to turn the BBS into a modern and trusted national statistical organisation and renaming the BBS as the Statistics Bangladesh (StatBD) and elevating the position of its head to chief statistician, a special scale post.
Creation of the Trust and Transparency Council of Statistics, a high-level seven-member body that will provide institutional oversight, review annual performance and expenditure audits, and oversee the selection process for the chief statistician, has also been suggested.
The task force has also called for amending the Statistics Act of 2013 to guarantee the proposed StatBD鈥檚 autonomy in technical decisions, including data validation and release, and to shield official statistics from administrative or political interference.
Concerning the staff shortage and structural weakness, the report has recommended expansion of the organisational structure from eight to 16 wings and creating 437 new upazila-level posts to strengthen its local presence.
Prioritising budgetary autonomy, the task force has recommended allocation of Tk 50 crore for the annual survey operations.
To rebuild public trust, the task force has advocated for an open data and release policy with pre-announced calendars, simultaneous access for all users, and publication of full metadata and methodological notes.