Person supposed to oversee, destroyed everything and left: Debapriya Bhattacharya
Renowned economist and head of the white paper preparation committee formed by the interim government, Debapriya Bhattacharya, thinks no reform is possible in the near future unless the oligarch class that rose to prominence over the past decade in Bangladesh is dismantled.
The state must be repaired and various reform programmes must be taken forward by destroying this oligarch group, he said.
Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow at Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), made these remarks at a dialogue on ‘Economic and financial reform in Bangladesh’ organised by BRAC Business School, BRAC University in Dhaka on Saturday.
Finance adviser to the interim government Salehuddin Ahmed attended the event as the chief guest.
He said, “If the state is not repaired, no reform will last and you will not be able to obstruct a revival of the old system.” He emphasized ensuring economic stability before carrying out reforms at various sectors.
Referring to the former Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rauf Talukdar, Debapriya Bhattacharya said without mentioning his name that the person who was supposed to monitor everything has destroyed all things and left.
He provided a comprehensive account on how looting and plundering was carried out by several politicians, businesspersons and bureaucrats in the economic sector over the past one and a half decades. He said this group created an oligarch class going against reform and in collusion with corruption.
Debapriya Bhattacharya said the narrative of development that has been built during this period will be known as the rising decade of oligarchy in the economic history of Bangladesh. He described the oligarchs as a group who take over the state and exert influence on policy formulation for their small interests, not for the overall interest of private sector.
The head of the white paper preparation committee said these oligarchs did not restrict themselves to just a single sector, rather they involved in illegal money laundering from banking and energy sectors to the capital markets and possibly also in offshore banking. They devoured the two lifelines of Bangladesh – the financial sector and energy sector. They looted banks, capital markets and siphoned off money abroad illegally, and they were also the contractors of mega projects.
Debapriya Bhattacharya spoke about as to how the central bank was used to loot the financial sector. He said without mentioning the name of former Bangladesh Bank Abdur Rauf Talukder that the person who was supposed to oversee everything has destroyed everything and left. The central bank that is supposed to do the monitoring has created the biggest debacles.