Division of NBR was not done properly: Debapriya Bhattacharya

Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the private research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), criticised the process of dividing the National Board of Revenue (NBR) into two divisions.

“It was right to divide the National Board of Revenue into two parts. This was also recommended in our white paper. But the way it has been done is not right,” he said at an event on Monday.

According to him, the method of division was flawed as it reduced the space for professionals without proper discussion and maintained excessive control over other autonomous areas.

Ensuring a proper division has become a critical issue now, he remarked.

Debapriya Bhattacharya made these remarks today at a dialogue titled “Policy reforms and the upcoming national budget” organised by Citizen’s Platform at a Gulshan hotel in Dhaka.

During the dialogue, the CPD distinguished fellow pointed out that during the previous government, those involved in kleptocracy or systemic looting included politicians who have now fled, while business groups are not so active now. However, bureaucrats have been revitalised.

Mentioning the government’s lack of attention to economic reform, he said, “Our general concern is that while the government focuses significantly on other reforms, we do not see the same level of attention given to economic reforms. This is a major issue, and they fail to realise that if there is no stability in the economy, no other reform can be sustainable.”

Despite so many shortcomings and inconsistencies, Debapriya Bhattacharya thinks that the implementation of the budget will largely depend on four factors: the outcome of the ongoing dialogue on national unity, a clear roadmap regarding the election, whether the promised justice will be delivered before or after the elections, and the overall situation of law, order, and security.

He further stated, “The current components necessary for investment are not very encouraging. As a result, employment is not increasing. The rate of wage growth for workers is below the rate of inflation, which means their real income is declining. Therefore, we cannot firmly say that the economy is on a way to recovery.”

The chief guest at the event was Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, special assistant to the Chief Adviser, and the special guest was Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, a standing committee member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.