Ex-Bangladesh Bank head backs continuing cash incentive for exports

Speaking at an event in capital Dhaka, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, Atiur stressed that discontinuing these incentives would be premature; instead, he advocated for increasing support to ensure Bangladesh's smooth transition from a least developed country to a developing nation.

The former head of the central bank critiqued his fellow economists who suggested that the success in remittance and export earnings justifies withdrawing government support even as he argued against this approach, while presenting a keynote paper titled ‘Post LDC Graduation: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Way Forward.’

The paper highlighted challenges Bangladesh would face post-graduation, such as stringent Rules of Origin and the need for the pharmaceutical sector to comply with Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights obligations.

Atiur warned that the loss of preferential market access could result in a 7-14 per cent reduction in baseline exports and to address these challenges, Atiur recommended stabilising the exchange rate, containing inflation, promoting export diversification, and strengthening remittance inflow.

He also called for improving financial sector governance and boosting overall business confidence while calling for enhancing human capital development through private sector collaboration with academia and other training providers.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DR)