BNP to abolish financial institutions division if voted to power: Amir Khasru

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will abolish the financial institutions division under the finance ministry if it returns to power, the party’s standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said on Monday.

According to him, the division was created to control state-owned banks, with the purpose of appointing managing directors and placing favoured individuals on boards to enable looting.

He recalled that the BNP had dissolved the division during its last term in office, but Sheikh Hasina later reinstated it. The party will once again abolish the division if it forms the next government.

Amir Khasru stated that full independence, not merely autonomy, must be granted to Bangladesh Bank if reforms are to be introduced and discipline restored to the financial sector. He also pledged that all necessary reforms would be undertaken to boost investment.

The BNP leader made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the Economic Reform Summit held at a hotel in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Monday afternoon.

Questioning the decision to split the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two parts, Amir Khasru said he saw no real benefit in the move, as both divisions remain bureaucrat-run. He added that the BNP has a different plan for reforming the NBR.

Speaking regarding the bureaucracy, Amir Khasru said that the BNP would not confront bureaucrats nor impose accountability measures on them if it came to power. Rather, it would reduce bureaucratic burdens and decentralise power across all areas of governance.

He emphasised that policymaking authority must rest with policymakers, not bureaucrats.

During a panel discussion at the event, energy expert professor M Tamim said, “We are currently facing a severe energy crisis. Over the past 15 years, no investments were made to develop domestic energy sources. Instead, investment was directed towards setting up power plants, nearly US $30 billion (3,000 crore) was spent because that’s where the greatest opportunities for corruption lay.”

Speaking at the programme, professor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of Dhaka University’s Department of Development Studies said that the growth model of the previous government had generated poverty and unemployment. Behind their so-called stories of economic miracle lay harsh realities that have now surfaced.

He stated that inflation had eroded people’s purchasing power and poverty had risen.

“It is already being said that another three million people will fall below the extreme poverty line. Some 1.3 million young men and women are unemployed; one in every three university graduates is jobless,” he added.

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir further remarked, “Bangladesh now stands at a historic crossroads — either we accept stagnation or move towards unprecedented prosperity. For that, we need a new economic model.”

Masrur Reaz, Chairman of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, said that the investment climate in Bangladesh continues to lag due to the absence of long-term planning.

Pointing out that the country still lacks a national investment policy, resulting in a lack of balance and coordination between foreign and domestic investments, he said Bangladesh should develop a systematic investment development strategy aligned with national trade, export, and import policies, similar to other countries.

Speaking to newspersons after the main event, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said that demands or reforms must no longer be pursued through street movements but through the people.

He said, “We must take our demands to the people and secure their mandate. With that mandate, we must return to parliament and have reforms passed there.”

“Unless we can bring about a change in the political culture of the country, no amount of reform will yield results. We must cultivate tolerance and respect differing opinions. Even in disagreement, mutual respect should be maintained,” Amir Khasru added.

Other speakers at the event included Manzur Hossain, member (general economics division) of the planning commission; Nakibur Rahman, spokesperson of Jamaat-e-Islami in the United States; Mohammad Hasan Arif, vice-chairman of the export promotion bureau (EPB); accountant Snehashish Barua; Jyoti Rahman, executive editor of Counterpart; and Wasim Alim, CEO of Chaldal.