An interview was published in The Bengali Daily Newspaper Prothom Alo. The interview dealt with the reforms in various areas of economic management that should receive priority attention in the upcoming budget of Bangladesh.
অর্থনীতিতে সংস্কার প্রয়োজন
এ বি মির্জ্জা আজিজুল ইসলাম
সার্বিকভাবে অর্থনীতিতে একটি সংস্কার প্রয়োজন। প্রথমেই দরকার ব্যাংক খাতে বড় সংস্কার। এই খাতটিতে সুশাসনের বড় ধরনের অভাব আছে। সম্প্রতি যেসব উদ্যোগ নেওয়া হয়েছে, তা এই খাতকে সুশাসনের ক্ষেত্রে আরও পিছিয়ে দিয়েছে। যেমন, একই পরিবারের সদস্যদের মধ্যে পর্ষদে দুজনের পরিবর্তে চারজন রাখার বিধান। আবার একই পরিবারের সদস্যরা ছয় বছরের পরিবর্তে নয় বছর পর্যন্ত পর্ষদের সদস্য থাকতে পারবেন। এগুলো ব্যাংক খাতের সুশাসনের ক্ষেত্রে মোটেই সন্তোষজনক নয়। এ ছাড়া রাজনৈতিকভাবে প্রভাবশালী বা পরিচয়ের সূত্র ধরে ঋণ দেওয়া এবং ঋণ আদায়ে নমনীয় ভাব দেখানো বন্ধ করতে হবে। অন্যদিকে ঋণখেলাপিদের বিচারপ্রক্রিয়া ত্বরান্বিত করতে হবে। অর্থ মন্ত্রণালয়, বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক ও আইন মন্ত্রণালয়ের সমন্বিতভাবে এ বিষয়ে সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে হবে। ব্যাংক খাতের সংস্কার নিয়ে বাজেটে একটি দিকনির্দেশনা থাকা উচিত।
An article titled “The Role and Functions of a Central Bank” was published by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM). The article is based on Second AKN Ahmed Memorial Lecture on Central Banking.
Nayadigonto Eid Magazine published an article the title of which is “Bangladesher Orthonitir Goti Prokriti”. The article dealt with the progress of as well as challenges confronting Bangladesh.
An article titled “বাজেট বাস্তবায়নের প্রতিবন্ধকতা” was published in The Bengali Daily Newspaper Desh Rupantor on 24 June, 2019. The article noted that the target set for FY2019-2020 budget can be justified on the grounds of expanding the role of the Government in Bangladesh. However, the targets are not realistic in light of the recent experiences of budget implementation.
An article titled “FY20 budget statement: Treatment of the financial sector” was published in The Financial Express on 25 June 2019. It is observed that the causes underlying the unabated increase of defaulted loans and the policy initiatives needed to deal with them have not been adequately addressed in the budget statement.
An article titled “প্রস্তাবিত বাজেট ও কিছু পর্যবেক্ষণ” was published in the Bengali Daily Newspaper Bonik Barta on 30 June, 2019. The article dealt with various aspects of the budget statement of FY2019-20. The issues analyzed included feasibility of reaching targets with respect to revenue, annual development program and sources of financing deficit. Also the problems of the financial sector which have not received adequate attention were highlighted.
Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was interviewed by the following TV Channels: the interviews dealt with various aspects of the upcoming budget;
3 June: SATV
9 June: Asian TV
13 June: ATN Bangla
14 June: MY TV
14 June: Bangla Vision
15 June: Boishakhi
15 June: Independent TV
Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam participated in the following TV talk-shows:
12 June: News 24
13 June: Independent TV
13 June: Channel I
13 June: Channel 71
13 June: Channel DBC
14 June: Channel 24
15 June: News 24
19 June: NTV
All the TV talk-shows dealt with different aspects of FY20 budget. Among the other participants were Members of the Parliament, former Governors and Deputy Governors of Bangladesh Bank and prominent business representatives.
17 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the lone discussant in a TV talk-show broadcast by Bangla Vision. The discussions dealt with various aspects of FY20 budget.
17 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist in a discussion on “Path to Prosperity: Reflections on the National Budget 2019-2020” organized by American Chamber of Commerce. The other panelists were Dr. Ahsan Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute (PRI) and Mr. Shehzad Munim, President, Foreign Investors’’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a former caretaker government adviser, speaks at the AmCham’s luncheon meeting at the Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
22 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a panelist in a discussion on the occasion of the publication ceremony of a book titled “Bangladesh Trade Policy for Growth and Employment: Collected Essays “authored by Dr. Zadi Sattar and Dr. Sadeq Ahmed. The Minister for Planning was the Chief Guest at the event.
23 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was interviewed by DBC Channel. The interview dealt with the implications of the publication of the list of big defaulters of bank loans. It was observed that the publication is welcome, but in itself would not be enough to contribute to substantial recovery which requires prompt and visible punishment of the defaulters through quick enforcement of relevant laws.
24 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was a discussant in a TV talk-show along with The Chairman of NRB Global Bank broadcast by News 24 Channel. The subject matter of discussion was similar to the interview noted above.
25 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam delivered a lecture on “The Role and Functions of a Central Bank” at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM). The session was chaired by the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. The participants included former Deputy Governors of Bangladesh Bank, a number of Chief Executives of Commercial banks and many trainees of BIBM.
26 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was interviewed by Jammuna Television. The topic was the recent publication of the names of large bank defaulters. The issue reviewed was what sort of changes are likely to be effected in the draft budget statement before its final approval by the Parliament. 30 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was interviewed by Boishakhi Television. The interview dealt with the leakages from the bonded warehouse facilities grated to exporters for duty-free import of inputs required for production of selected export goods.
30 June: Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam was the lone discussant in a TV talk-show broadcast DBC. The discussions dealt with the changes introduced in the Finance Bill of FY2019-2020 which provides the legal sanction of the budget. Compared to the Finance Minister’s Budget Statement presented to the Parliament on 13 June, there have been a few changes relating to value added tax and corporate tax. The implications of these changes particularly for investment, inflation and capital market were reviewed.