‘Bangladesh should follow its own development model’
Bangladesh should follow its own model to ensure the economic development, eminent economist Wahiduddin Mahmud said today.
The economic models of some East Asian nations, which were treated as Asian tigers, had earlier been considered as a development formula for other countries, he said.
Some global agencies, including the World Bank, had advised following the economic model of the East Asian nations, Mahmud said.
"But, there is no scope to ensure economic development by following other countries' formula blindly."
Mahmud came up with the remarks after receiving the Bangladesh Bank Award-2020 in recognition to his outstanding contribution to the Bangladesh economy.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal handed over the award to Mahmud at a programme at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management at Mirpur 2 in the capital.
"Novel thinking process is important for a better development and Bangladesh has been doing so. The country has managed the development by following its own model," said Mahmud.
The development strategy of a country always should be time-befitting and the strategy have to be changed to keep pace with the time, he said.
The country's commoners, including farmers, small and medium entrepreneurs, so far used their all capacities in response to the opportunities, which they got.
The government also gave assistance, including policy support, to this end. "This is the principle of the Bangladesh's development."
Economists across the globe have almost reached a consensus that there is no preset formula to manage the economic development of a country.
Following the development model of another country does not bring any output.
"Bangladesh have reached a new stage of the development. The global economy are changing. And there are many challenges."
Ensuring technological development, building a skilled human resources, strengthening the accountability of the corporate governance are essential for ensuring the next stage of the economic progress, he said.
A strong financial sector should be built to tackle the volatility deriving from the global financial arena, Mahmud said.
The finance minister said the country's foreign exchange reserve would hit $50 billion within this fiscal year, which now stands at around $45 billion.
"Our debt to GDP ratio is relatively lower given many other countries," he said.
The country will be able to provide loans to other countries in the quickest possible time, Kamal said.
He thanked the central bank to nominate Mahmud for the award.
BB Governor Fazle Kabir presided over the meeting while he mentioned the contributions of Mahmud to the country's economy.
Among others, Kazi Sayedur Rahman, deputy governor of the BB, and Nazma Begum, an economics professor of Dhaka University, also addressed the event.
Earlier, Rehman Sobhan received the award in 2000, Nurul Islam in 2009, Mursharraf Hossain 2011, Mozaffar Ahmed (posthumous) and Swadesh Ranjan Bose (posthumous) in 2013, Azizur Rahman Khan and Mahbub Hossain (posthumous) in 2017.
Mahmud stood first with first class marks while achieving his Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree in economics from Dhaka University in 1968.
In 1977, he managed a Phd degree from Cambridge University.
Mahmud commenced his teaching career in the economics department at Dhaka University in 1969.
He became a professor in 1984 and retired in 2011.
He is currently serving the International Growth Centre as senior country adviser.
He is also chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Research Group.
He was also adviser of a former caretaker government.
Between 2009 and 2015, he was a member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy.
He also served the South Asia Network of Economic Research Institute as its chairman from 2009 to 2018.
He played his role as a director of the central bank board between 1993 and 2007.
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