Common people more interested in living standards than governance: Planning Minister

Planning minister MA MannanProthom Alo file photo

The common people are less interested in governance. All they want is a good standard of living, which the Awami League has ensured, said planning minister MA Mannan on Friday.

“The road to governance is very long. We have to understand what the commoners want in the first place,” he added.

Mannan was addressing the seminar ‘National Budget and Economic Pathway’ organised by The Centre for Governance Studies at a city hotel, reports news agency UNB.

The road to governance is very long. We have to understand what the commoners want in the first place
MA Mannan, Planning Minister

At the event, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former commerce minister and standing committee member of de facto opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said: “Politicisation is taking over the economy, which is a symbol of an authoritarian government.”

“Inequality is rising as the government is patronising its own people for its political interests,” he added.

There are contradictions in the budget process, Muhammad Abdul Mazid, former chairman of the National Board of Revenue, said. “The scope for discussion is also limited.”