Economy revs up on rural strength
Bangladesh's economy has been revving up for the last one decade because of the strong rural economy buoyed by microfinance, experts said yesterday.
"In the last ten years, the world faced an economic meltdown and many countries are now going through financial turbulence. But the economy of Bangladesh has remained unscathed," said Atiur Rahman, a former governor of the central bank.
Bangladesh was able to steer clear of all financial jitters riding on the positive developments on several fronts like micro-finance, financial inclusion and mobile financial services that brought the rural economy to the mainstream, he said.
He spoke at the launch of a book titled "Institutionalising Microfinance in Bangladesh: Players, Games & Outcomes" written by Lila Rashid, general manager for the SME and special programmes department at Bangladesh Bank.
Prof Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, formally launched the book at the event at the Bangladesh National Museum in Dhaka.
"Around 3.30 crore people have taken services from microfinance institutions and the number is growing," Rahman said, adding that the sector is largely free from graft and irregularities.
There are about seven crore recipients of mobile financial services, which also helped deepen financial inclusion and strengthen the base of the economy, he said.
"The government on several occasions let non-governmental organisations experiment with different economic systems and that has worked out. And that is how Bangladesh has turned into a big social laboratory," Rahman added.
The Microcredit Regulatory Authority is the first of its kind in the world, he said, adding that the regulator should be smarter as the sector is getting enormous.
The author said the book tried to portray how microfinance evolved in the country and gradually took a shape.
MA Baqui Khalily, a former professor at the department of finance at Dhaka University; Md Akhtaruzzaman, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management; Zahida Fizza Kabir, CEO of SAJIDA Foundation; Mahrukh Mohiuddin, managing director of the University Press Ltd, the publisher of the book, also spoke.
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