Contributors: Salehuddin Ahmed, M Syeed Ahamed, M M Akash, Debapriya Bhattacharya, Uttam Kumar Deb, Mirza Azizul Islam, Fouzul Kabir Khan, A K Abdul Mubin, Masihur Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Ananya Raihan, Wasel Bin Shadat, M Syeduzzaman, and Rehman Sobhan

The importance of being well informed about the drivers of economic prosperity and agents of economic growth is something that anyone with some interest in developmental issues can hardly ignore. It is in this context that the CPD publication titled Revisiting Foreign Aid: A Review of Bangladesh's Development 2003 is an important addition to the relevant literature. This publication has been brought out under the CPD's flagship programme titled An Independent Review of Bangladesh's Development (IRBD) and is the eighth in the IRBD series.

The IRBD2003 has two components. The first component (Part A) presents a review of the key developments in the Bangladesh economy during the fiscal year 2002-03 (FY03). This section comprises of three chapters: "State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2003:

A Macroeconomic Overview", "External Sector Performance in FY2003: Recovery and Beyond", and "The Poverty Reduction Strategy for Bangladesh: A Review of the Finalisation Process and Interim Measures". Each of these chapters scrutinises a number of critical economic trends from a policy perspective which needs to be closely monitored in the near future. Some of the major issues that have been dealt with in the first chapter of the IRBD2003 include such important performance indicators as GDP growth rate, savings and investment performance, revenue mobilisation and public expenditure, and wages and inflation. The dynamics of export-import situation along with the major challenges emerging in the external sector has been extensively discussed in the second chapter. The third chapter delves on the implementation issues as regards the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The discourse in Part A will provide the readership with a comprehensive understanding about the macroeconomic environment observed during FY03 and the early months of FY04.

The second component (Part B) of the IRBD2003, which the thematic part of the volume, puts under scrutiny the emerging dynamics and tensions as regards aid policy and practice in the context of Bangladesh. Various chapters in this section are "The Political Economy of Aid", "The Macroeconomic Dimensions of Aid Dependence", "Role of Foreign Aid in Public Investment in Bangladesh", "Utilisation of Aid", "Impact of Foreign Aid: A Study of Selected Aided Projects", "Aid and Policy Reforms in Bangladesh", "Aid and Poverty", and "Aid and NGOs in Bangladesh". In preparation of this section, CPD's in-house professionals were joined by a number of authors who brought in a blend of sound conceptual understanding about aid related issues and practical exposure to policy and implementation related aspects of aid.

It has been argued in the thematic discussions that Bangladesh economy is evolving from a predominantly aid dependent to a trade dependent one. The declining contribution of aid to Bangladesh's development process with the broadening of the development partners' policy conditionalities is leading to growing tensions in the context of aid. The papers also argue that (a) aid flows have often been determined by political and strategic considerations of particular development partners rather than development needs and objectives of the recipient country, (b) market-oriented policy reforms, implemented at the behest of aid-providing institutions, do not necessarily guarantee a flow of accelerated aid, and (c) there is hardly any association between levels of aid flow and levels of poverty. However, the papers argue that aid continues to remain a major determining factor in the performance of a number of sectors including private sector development, poverty alleviation etc. in Bangladesh.

A key feature of the IRBD2003 is the chronological compilation of the major economic events taking place during the first half of FY2003 (July 2002-December 2003). This segment of the volume will serve as a significant source of information for those who would like to track such important economic events.

There is no doubt that the IRBD2003 will provide the readership with important insights, and enable them to gain indepth understanding, on the current state and future directions of the Bangladesh economy. Policymakers, academicians, students, development practitioners, media personnel, and others, with an interest in Bangladesh's current economic performance and future development strategies, will hopefully stand to benefit from the wealth of information and analyses to be found in IRBD2003.

Syed Saifuddin Hossain is a development researcher