Sadiq Ahmed

Bangladesh-World Bank at 50: An evolving partnership

The 50 years of development partnership between the World Bank and Bangladesh is marked with mixed feelings.

Managing the politics of budget-making

The main focus of the FY24 budget must be on economic stabilisation.

Lift interest rate cap, let monetary policy work

Deft macroeconomic management over the past three decades has served Bangladesh well. Total export earnings, buoyed by a heady pace of growth in earnings from readymade garments, and foreign remittances, climbed to $ 81.4 billion in FY2022, rising from a mere $5.2 billion in FY1990.

Urgent need to stabilise macroeconomy

Macroeconomic stability has been a hallmark of Bangladesh’s development strategy. This has served the country well, especially in terms of providing a solid enabling environment for the private sector.

National Budget FY2019-20: first impressions

The annual national budget is the most important government statement of its socio-economic policy for the coming year. The

Addressing the menace of NPLs

It is heartening to learn that the newly elected government is keen to address the menace of non-performing loans (NPL) in

It's time to seriously consider a carbon tax in Bangladesh

The recently released special report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) paints a dire picture -- the global temperature has increased by over 1 degree centigrade over pre-industrial levels (mid-1800s).

The case for environmental fiscal reforms in Bangladesh

The 2041 Perspective Plan seeks to transform Bangladesh from lower middle income to an upper middle income country by 2031 and

June 7, 2018

Creating fiscal space to finance development

Bangladesh should be justifiably proud of its development achievements and this progress accelerated over the past decade.

January 7, 2018

Can Bangladesh eliminate extreme poverty by FY2031?

Bangladesh has set an ambitious target to eliminate extreme poverty by FY2031. The results of the latest Household

December 17, 2017

Sustainable development must be financed from domestic resources

Research done for the Perspective Plan 2041 (PP2041) exercise suggests that in order for Bangladesh to implement a green growth strategy to ensure consistency of growth and poverty reduction targets with environmental protection, Bangladesh needs to increase its spending on environmental protection and climate change related programmes from 1 percent of GDP now to 3 percent of GDP by FY2031 and to 3.5 percent of GDP by FY2041.

November 21, 2017

Managing the banking sector fault lines

Reforms over the past two decades or so have greatly improved the quantity and quality of banking services in Bangladesh.

November 9, 2017

Bangladesh needs a 'green' growth strategy

As one of the fastest growing economies in South Asia, Bangladesh continues to experience sustained economic growth underpinned by macroeconomic stability and strong domestic demand. The country has been growing at an annual average rate of 6 percent for the

September 19, 2017

Stemming the rot in public banks

I have written many times in the past about the need to address the governance issues in the state-owned commercial banks (SCBs).

June 15, 2017

Trade protection and job creation

The global debate over trade protection has gained momentum in the aftermath of the US national elections where populist candidate Donald Trump won the presidential elections promising the use of trade protection to create jobs. Although the case for free trade is

February 11, 2016