Foreign loans should be phased out: Anisuzzaman Chowdhury

Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, special assistant (economic affairs) to the Chief Adviser, said that foreigners enjoy influence in the country's policymaking due to dependence on foreign loans.

The country must comply with various conditions while accepting foreign loan in development sectors and that hampers both revenue collection and foreign investment, that is why Bangladesh must pashed out foreign loans, he said.

Anisuzzaman Chowdhury made these remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a budget review meeting organised by Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Policy Research Institute (PRI) at Police Plaza in the capital on Monday.

The special assistant said, “We have no plan regarding when our tax policy will be formulated or implemented. Whereas I have seen in Australia that a political party loses an election merely for proposing a rise in VAT.”

He highlighted the lack of national unity, apathy towards implementing political agenda, and tendency of politicisation in healthcare and education sectors.

“We have no national unity. We think about our narrow political interests. Even doctors and teachers here are divided into separate associations of BNP, Awami League, and other parties. We have no national vision. If we catch a mild cold, we rush to Singapore. So, how will the healthcare sector of the country make progress?,” he said.

Anisuzzaman further said that the country continues to operate on the politics of the 21-point, 11-point, and 6-point programmes, but there is no roadmap for implementing them.

MCCI president Kamran T Rahman and PRI chairman Zaidi Sattar, among others, spoke at the event.