Reform the data first before making policy: analysts

The caretaker government must first reform data as the previous government not only mismanaged but also manipulated various types of data, making it difficult to form effective policies based on existing information, economists and entrepreneurs said today.

They made the comment at an event titled “Dialogue for Democratic Reconstruction” organized by the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) in the capital.

Almost all data from Bangladesh is inaccurate due to malpractice, said Mr Sabur Khan, president of Daffodil International University.

“You’re making your policy based on the wrong data, so how is your policy going to give you a good result?”

For example, the country’s population is assumed to be 18 million, but in reality it is probably much higher, he said.

If the population size is inaccurate, then data on food demand and per capita income do not reflect the real numbers, he added.

So the first priority should be to correct the data and find a way to build a sustainable and accurate data set, he added.

M Abu Eusuf, former chairman of the Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, also emphasized the presence of reliable data.

Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Center for Policy Dialogue, said correcting the data has already been set as the first priority in the white paper, which will be prepared to assess the extent of corruption in the country and identify the reasons behind it. it.

People saw how the previous government just played with data on per capita income, inflation and export earnings and how that data affected the economy, he said.

People will have to realize that the caretaker government was formed only three months ago and found a country almost disengaged by the previous government, he said at the event as the guest of honour.

However, the country’s bureaucracy is not functioning well and its law enforcement department is not functioning properly, he said.

So, it is difficult to fulfill the dreams of all people overnight, he said, adding that people should understand the situation properly.

Bhattacharya said he realizes how difficult the situation is for the caretaker government and that is why he would speak in favor of the government even though he is not part of it.

The government will have to reform the things that were piled up and should have been done by the previous government, he said.

It also needs to reform policies so that the country can prepare for the next level of development, he said.

To do this, the government is bringing institutional reforms along with reforming the electoral system, he said.

Abdul Awal Mintoo, a veteran businessman and vice-president of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), also stressed the need to correct all kinds of data, saying, “All data is wrong and full of lies now.”

On the business environment, Mintoo said conducive social capital and savings are needed to spur investment.

However, this kind of social capital, along with law and order and good relations between people, is currently lacking while economies are also shrinking, he said.

Some infrastructure has been built, but the health and education systems are not conducive for the public, he said.

“I think there should be a law that prohibits members of parliament, ministers, the president, bureaucrats and their family members from going abroad for medical services,” said Mintoo, also a former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Bangladesh Industry (FBCCI).

He noted that the caretaker government may not be able to implement all the reforms, so it should focus on those that are achievable in a short time frame.

In addition, it could engage in discussions with political parties so that they can carry out the remaining reforms within the government, allowing the next elected government to carry out all the reform tasks.

Professor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, director at Bangladesh Bank, commented that simply meeting with government officials and managing the activities of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will not control stubborn inflation; planned actions from the Ministry of Commerce are also needed.

He recommended consulting food importers who bring in essential items like wheat and onions from abroad.

Mir Nasir Hossain, also former president of FBCCI, argued that mere contraction of money supply will not reduce high inflation unless market management and supply chain are improved.

Rent-seeking within the supply chain drives up commodity costs, he noted.

With the tighter money supply, interest rates in the banking sector have risen and credit rating standards have been tightened, creating significant challenges for industries.

“If this continues, how will new jobs be created in the private sector?” he asked.

Hossain emphasized the need to make the education system more need-based and create an enabling environment in the stock market so that entrepreneurs can raise funds from the stock market as well.

Prof. Sayema ​​​​Haque Bidisha, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dhaka; Muhammad Abdul Mazid, former president of the National Board of Revenue (BNR); Mr. Jashim Uddin, Former President of FBCCI; Asif Ibrahim, former president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and MS Shekil Chowdhury, president of the Center for NRB, also spoke at the event.