Originally posted in The Business Standard on 6 November 2022
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya was invited to talk on “State of Bangladesh Economy: An Outlook” at a lecture organised by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) on 6 November 2022. Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, delivered the welcome speech at the event. The meeting was attended, among others, by Ambassadors and diplomats, corporate leaders, academics and policy activists.
At the talk, Dr Debapriya stated, “Commodity prices going up, investment going down, this possibly is the perfect storm for a party going to election.” He maintained, “I don’t know about famine, but definitely we are talking about seeing more malnutrition, more poverty, and more rural poverty.”
According to him, “There is no data and information to really manage the market right now. Specially, the food balance and fuel stock data lack transparency.” He believes the government needs to deal with market controlling mechanisms to thwart market syndicates.
Regarding the recent visit of International Monetary Foundation (IMF) team to Bangladesh, Dr Debapriya said “It is obviously not a very glorified position. It is happening at a very inappropriate time. This is the point where you end up facing much higher prices for not doing things on time. This will be a big tragedy for this government.”
For details you may like to visit The Business Standard’s report on the event.
Link:https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/worried-about-increasing-poverty-not-famine-debapriya-527154