Rising inequality is holding back our progress

Experts at a development conference on December 1, 2021 lamented that Bangladesh's remarkable economic growth since independence had also led to an inequitable society, and we cannot help but share in their disappointment. For a country that was founded on the basis of equality, it is hugely disappointing that as Bangladesh celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence, the country has experienced rapid increase in inequality, especially in recent times.

According to a report published by this daily in May 2019, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) found in its Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) that the country's Gini coefficient, which is the economic measure of equality, stood at 0.482 in 2016, up from 0.458 in 2010. That, reportedly, meant inequality in the country was at an all-time high. At the latest development conference, experts, while lauding the entrepreneurial spirit of Bangladeshis that propelled the country's outstanding economic growth, also criticised the large-scale corruption that has been taking place, leading to growing inequality.

While the country has made huge progress on social indicators, the benefits of health measures and education have not been equally distributed between the rich and the poor—as well as across gender and other social divides. And this, experts opined, is mostly a political problem. The lack of accountability of various government organisations has not only become a major barrier to our progress and to social and economic equality, but is also challenging the very credibility of the state. That is extremely concerning.

Apart from economic inequality, we have seen in recent times that various types of social inequalities are also on the rise. The space to criticise those close to power has shrunk. Questioning the decisions of policymakers is now often seen through an adversarial lens. But without such open discussions, addressing the issues that are leading to greater economic inequality will become increasingly more difficult. The recent tendency of government officials to refuse to look at data provided by independent non-government agencies is another cause for worry. Without taking such data into consideration—and in the absence of unbiased data collected by the government—how can the authorities address these difficult challenges?

Bangladesh's overall human development score, evaluated by the Human Development Index (HDI), was 0.632 in 2019, but declined to 0.478 when discounted for inequality, implying a loss of 24.4 percent in human development due to inequality. This is just one example of how rising inequality is holding back our development. Therefore, while policymakers congratulate themselves for the country's development, the reality is that most of it is down to the hard work and ingenuity of its citizens—while some of the policies that are being pursued are actually negatively impacting this development. If we are to reach our development dreams, then it is the policies that must change.

Hence, the authorities must work towards bringing greater accountability and transparency in governance. And, most importantly, take every necessary step to reduce corruption, as well as make policies that aim to address inequality.