The structure of the Hasina government had become a system of thieves.

In the past 15 years of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina, which fell in the student-public uprising, the entire structure of the country was turned into a thief system. During this time, corruption occurred in 28 ways. On the other hand, 234 billion US dollars (28 lakh crore taka) have been illegally smuggled abroad in 15 years. 40 percent of the development budget has been looted.

In addition, the practice of politically influenced lending has deepened the crisis in the banking sector, as a result of which 10 banks are now on the verge of bankruptcy. Such information has emerged in the white paper of the interim government. This information was presented at a press conference organized by the White Paper Preparation Committee at the National Economic Committee (NEC) conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital yesterday.

The interim government formed this committee to publish the white paper highlighting the overall economic situation of the country. On August 28, this 12-member committee was formed under the leadership of economist Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya. The committee organized 18 meetings, 21 policy consultations, 15 technical committee meetings and three public hearings.

Three months after the formation of the committee, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya handed over the nearly 400-page white paper to Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Sunday.

Yesterday, at a press conference, the committee said that during the Awami League government, a development narrative was created based on exaggerated information, behind which corruption, money laundering and a large amount of wealth was accumulated in the hands of a small number of people.

In total, 10 percent of the country’s people now enjoy 85 percent of the wealth, said Dr. Debapriya, head of the white paper committee.

In response to the question of who committed these corruptions, he said, our job is not to catch thieves, but to describe the theft. Not the individual or the institution, but to find out the process of theft. If anyone has anything to say about an individual or institution, it is better to go to the ACC or the Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank.

Although the white paper provides information and data on unlimited corruption, smuggling or looting during the Hasina government’s rule, the committee says they have no evidence of this. However, they believe that the banking, infrastructure, energy and information technology sectors will be at the top of the sectors where the most corruption has occurred.

It was informed at the press conference that the committee did not take any allowance for the preparation of the white paper, nor did it take honorarium for meetings. Dr. Debapriya selected the members of the committee itself in light of the instructions of the chief advisor. The committee believes that according to current estimates, such a research work could have cost 25 crore taka. This research was conducted going beyond the traditional research method. The researchers used their own acquired knowledge here. They also consulted with domestic and foreign experts.

Dr. Debapriya said that in the last 15 years, the entire structure had turned from crony capitalism to a system of thieves. The source of this is the 2018 election. In the subsequent elections, the place of transparency has been destroyed. The accountability of local governments has been destroyed.

The head of the white paper drafting committee said that in the last 15 years, politicians, businessmen and uniformed and non-uniform bureaucratic groups are behind corruption or irregularities. The last three elections have created this situation. Local government and social forces have been weakened. Civil society, media, and even foreigners were involved in this cycle. Foreigners have often protected the government by giving unnecessary praise.

What the government should do: Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya believes that the government should disclose the details of its economic management to the public. He said that the next six months are very important. The government should disclose the plan before the budget to the public. Information on economic reforms, the value of the currency, inflation – all these issues should be disclosed to the public. At the same time, he proposed to publish a medium-term plan along with the next six months. So that investors can get an idea of ​​the dynamics of the economy.

He also said that there should be a minimum two-year plan. This medium-term plan needs to be quick. Even though the current government is a limited-term government, the impact of its decisions can be far-reaching. The government should provide a medium-term plan in these sectors of investment and employment, quality of education, and healthcare. It can be a two-year plan.

The white paper says that various irregularities committed under the joint leadership of senior officials of the central bank, government officials, and influential outsiders have created such a disastrous situation in the banking sector. The way it has been revealed from 2015 to 2024 has never been seen before.

Identifying non-performing loans as a ‘black hole’ in the banking sector, the white paper says that at least three times more of the problems in the banking sector remain invisible than they are visible.

The report says that since 2010, banks have started to move beyond the control of the regulatory body Bangladesh Bank. Due to this, almost one-third of the loans in the banking sector have become bad or defaulted. Much more loans have become bad than what Bangladesh Bank is showing. Banks are showing profits by ‘window dressing’ on paper and in pen in their financial reports. 10 private banks have gone to the brink of bankruptcy. As the liquidity crisis is severe, these banks will face long-term problems.

The white paper states that the amount of defaults in the loans distributed is increasing day by day due to repeated rescheduling, regularization, restructuring, cancellation and interest waiver of non-performing loans. The bad loan figure reached 7.5 lakh crore taka at the end of June. However, the data released by Bangladesh Bank on defaulted loans at the end of September showed that the total defaulted loan stood at 2 lakh 84 thousand 997 crore taka.

The regulatory agencies of the financial sector lost control and became ‘occupiers’; ‘cronyism’ became a business model. Businessmen, in collusion with politicians and government bureaucrats, managed the financial system according to their own wishes. Although the plight of the banking sector was highlighted, the white paper did not highlight specific scandals.

The government, politicians, government employees, the Ministry of Finance, the leadership and senior officials of Bangladesh Bank, a class of bankers and businessmen were blamed for the bank’s plight. However, no one was specifically blamed.

At the press conference, committee member Dr. AK Enamul Haque said that 40 percent of the total expenditure on the country’s development projects was embezzled or looted. This did not happen in isolation. All parties did it step by step.

Dr. Mustafizur Rahman said, many mega projects may have been necessary. But during the implementation of these projects, the cost was increased several times according to the contractor’s words and the money was laundered. It is quite difficult to calculate the amount of money laundering. However, I have calculated the amount of money laundering by adopting an international method.

Zahid Hossain, a member of the White Paper Preparation Committee and former Chief Economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office, said, “For so long, I thought that there was a risk and a risk of falling into the trap of a middle-income country. Now we are saying that we have fallen into that trap. Development has been shown through statistics so far. In reality, that has not happened. We have fallen into the trap of a middle-income country due to accounting errors.”

He said, the way GDP is calculated in this country, there is an excess. If value added increases in a sector, it is caught, but if it decreases, it is not caught. Data and figures say that we have not fallen into the middle income trap, but in reality it is happening.

Zahid Hossain further said, during the previous government’s tenure, so much money was laundered, the desired investment did not happen, employment did not happen, so how can there be so much growth? Policies need to be reformed. Accountable institutions need to be built.

Dr. Imran Matin said, the talk of progress for the poor is not meaningful. Because if those above the poverty line cannot work for two days, the number of people below the poverty line will double. Such a narrative has been set up that they will fall if they are knocked down.

Professor M. Tamim said, the Rapid Electricity Supply Act opened the highway for corruption. Although it was initially said to deal with the crisis, it was later widely used. Attempts have been made to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of producing its own energy. That is, corruption has been committed by formulating policies.

Another member of the committee, Professor Selim Raihan, said that the extent of corruption in Bangladesh now demands research. In the past, there have been demands for reform and opposition against it. Those who oppose reform are still active in various ways. If we think about restoring the economy, we must reform important sectors.

Selim Raihan said that three consecutive elections in the country have been extremely flawed. Through this, democratic institutions and economic sectors have been destroyed. Reforms are necessary to overcome this situation. Free elections are needed to protect democratic institutions and economic sectors from destruction. However, before that, it is necessary to reform the damage done in the financial and other sectors. We do not want old corrupt people to be rehabilitated in any way, so reform is necessary first.

Selim Raihan commented that corruption during the Awami League era is a subject of research. He said that corruption can happen in all countries. But our report (white paper) highlights the extent of corruption through data and information. The massive scale of corruption that has occurred in the past, the involvement of a large number of people in corruption and its nature, has created a major field of research in Bangladesh.

Committee members Professor Abu Yusuf, Tasneem Siddiqui and Professor Sharminda Neelormi spoke at the press conference.

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