‘Bangladesh robbed of $14b in 3 years’

Bangladesh was robbed of $14 billion in the past three years because of the spike in global oil prices, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the prime minister's energy adviser.

"All the oil companies and exporters increased the oil price. In my calculation, they have robbed us of around $14 billion since 2022. How can an economy be stable if a country's wealth is taken in such a way?"

Chowdhury's comments came at a seminar on "Unpacking the Economic Manifesto of the Awami League: Trends and Challenges for Tomorrow's Bangladesh" in Dhaka organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

In the middle of 2020, crude oil prices plummeted to $25-$30 a barrel as demand shrank for the global coronavirus pandemic.

But once the impacts of the global health crisis petered out in 2021, the prices began to creep up and it went through the roof after the Ukraine war that began in February 2022.

The higher prices meant Bangladesh had to pay more for fuel, which ate up the foreign currency reserves at an alarming rate. The shrinking reserves meant the dollar appreciated substantially against the taka, raising the prices of practically everything in Bangladesh, an import-dependent country.

Subsequently, inflation hit a decade high.

Economic instability hit Bangladesh after the global fuel price started climbing, Chowdhury said, while blaming the Ukraine war for the price hike.

"Had the Russia-Ukraine war not broken out, Bangladesh would have remained in a much better shape. We are the victim of geo-political tensions."

Global lenders have also increased the interest rate of loans, which has made borrowing costlier for Bangladesh.

"Still, Bangladesh is doing well," Chowdhury added.

At the event, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali blasted the people who had said Bangladesh would face the same economic turmoil as Sri Lanka. "Many had said we would become like Sri Lanka but it didn't happen."

"Many international banks and agencies have come forward to lend to us."

Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are particularly coming forward to invest.

"The way new investment is coming into the country is a good thing. The country is doing well. We believe that we will be able to overcome the obstacles we are facing," he added.

Mashiur Rahman, the prime minister's economic affairs adviser; Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, education and cultural affairs adviser to the prime minister; Manzoor Ahmed, an emeritus professor of BRAC University; and MM Akash, a former professor of the University of Dhaka's economics department, also spoke.

Binayak Sen, director general of the BIDS, moderated the event.