Economic advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has expressed deep concern about the current state of institutions in the country, bluntly stating that there are no good institutions left. He revealed that a staggering 80 percent of the money in the banking sector has been lost or taken away.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bangladesh will need around 35 billion dollars to rebuild and restructure the banking system.
Salehuddin made these remarks on Saturday, July 26, during a book release event held at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka. The event marked the launch of Economy, Governance, and Power: A Portrait of Life, a book by renowned economist Hossain Zillur Rahman. Salehuddin Ahmed was invited as the chief guest to share his insights.
Reflecting on the state of governance and society, Salehuddin said, “The people remain the same. They have not changed. Many suggest we start fresh and discard everything, but that’s simply not possible. We have to work with what we have, guiding and sometimes even urging people firmly to get things done.”
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He went on to explain the challenges in establishing good governance in the country: “The Prime Minister and Members of Parliament currently have no real checks and balances on their power. Without meaningful reform in this area, no amount of other reforms will bring lasting change. Even political parties themselves require serious reform.”
Turning to the country’s economic crisis, he recalled, “When this government took office in August last year, the situation was unlike anything seen anywhere else in the world. The banking sector had suffered immensely and 80 percent of its funds were effectively lost.”
Salehuddin added that the IMF initially estimated 18 billion dollars would be needed to fix the banking sector, but the figure has now risen to 35 billion dollars.
