Bangladesh currently stands at an important turning point in its developmental journey – it has made the middle-income transition (from low income to lower middle-income status according to the World Bank) in 2015 and is in the cusp of making the second graduation, the LDC graduation (from LDC to non-LDC developing country according to the UN category of countries). Sustainable dual graduation of Bangladesh will no doubt call for significant investment in PIPs. Middle income graduation will mean that cost of borrowings will rise significantly; LDC graduation will mean that Bangladesh will need to make a transition from preference-driven competitiveness to efficiency and productivity-driven competitiveness. These will entail that the demands on implementation of infrastructure will go up significantly, in terms of prioritisation as also in terms of good value for money. In the backdrop of limited resources, ensuring good governance in PIP implementation thus has emerged as a key concern and as an issue of defining importance at a time of change and challenges and structural transition of the Bangladesh economy.
Authors: Mustafizur Rahman and Muhammad Nafis Shahriar Farabi
Publication Period: July 2022