[🇧🇩] Monitoring Bangladesh's Economy

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5-year plan eyes trillion-dollar economy

The government has created a five-year plan that aims to turn Bangladesh into a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and create 1 crore jobs by 2030, driven by an upsurge in investment.

www.thedailystar.net

5-year plan eyes trillion-dollar economy

Govt wants to create 1 crore jobs by 2030

Rejaul Karim Byron

The government has created a five-year plan that aims to turn Bangladesh into a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and create 1 crore jobs by 2030, driven by an upsurge in investment.

The blueprint, which was prepared by the General Economic Division and will succeed the 8th five-year plan, aimed to accommodate the new government’s election manifesto and establish a realistic strategy to manage internal and global economic shocks, including the banking sector crisis.

It was approved at yesterday’s meeting of the National Economic Council chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

“As a government elected by the people, we have incorporated those commitments into the proposed plan -- we are moving forward with strategies focused on recovery, transition, and reconstruction,” Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told reporters after the meeting.

The plan rests on seven pillars: economic decentralisation, deregulation and improving business climate, investment-led growth, balanced regional development, universal social protection, job creation and skills development, and good governance and institutional reforms.

In the first 12 months, the government will focus on stabilising the fragile economy.

This involves implementing a strict monetary policy to control inflation and employing prudent exchange rate management to rebuild the delicate foreign exchange reserves.

In this phase, the government would also be reducing unnecessary government expenditure while simultaneously strengthening social safety nets to protect the vulnerable from the shocks of inflation.

It would be managing the import pressures by prioritising essential commodities and facilitating easier remittance inflows.

The government would also be taking immediate steps to resolve the liquidity crisis in the banking sector and provide emergency support to the agriculture and small and medium enterprise (SME) sectors.

In the second phase, which will conclude at year three of the five-year plan, the focus would be on rebuilding systems and institutions.

Jumpstarting investment would be the main focus in this phase. Steps would be taken to remove regulatory barriers and open up financing opportunities to restore private sector confidence.

Deep reforms would be taken in the banking sector, the issue of defaulted loans would be addressed, and systemic risks would be reduced.

Trade logistics would be developed, sector-based diversification would be pursued, and youth employment programmes would be prioritised.

In this phase, strict alignment of the national budget would be ensured with strategic planning, and domestic revenue collection would be increased.

In the final phase, which will be in the last two years of the five-year plan, growth acceleration will be prioritised.

Both public and private investment would be increased in the manufacturing and high-value-added sectors, and the export base would be widened by engaging with complex global value chains.

To lower the cost of doing business, climate-resilient energy, transport, and digital infrastructure would be designed.

The government will also ensure that the benefits of economic growth play a direct role in reducing inequality through universal social protection.

In the acceleration phase, growth will be primarily driven by private investment, which includes foreign direct investment (FDI) rising to 2.5 percent of GDP.

The government has set an ambitious but realistic revenue mobilisation plan.

It has targeted increasing total revenue by 3 percent of GDP led by digitisation and full integration across all economic sectors and developing a stronger tax culture within the country.

The macroeconomic framework projects that total revenue as a percentage of GDP will rise from 8 percent in fiscal 2024-25 to 11 percent by fiscal 2029-30.

There are specific plans for the agriculture sector and the youth.

The government plans to transform the agriculture sector from traditional methods to a high-tech, market-driven ecosystem.

The strategy envisions a central hub for agriculture that integrates digital innovation and agritech, smart farming, value-added processing, global value chain integration, and sustainable resource management. The government would also ensure the long-term viability of land and water.

One-stop service centres would be set up to provide all necessary agricultural support services to farmers, while steps would be taken to ensure efficient water and resource management.

Steps would be taken to establish direct connections between the agricultural sector and industrial manufacturing.

Bangladesh will be entering the critical phase of its demographic dividend, and special emphasis will be given to making the most of it.

Themain barrier to unleashing the demographic dividend has been the mismatch between educational outcomes and the actual demands of the labour market, coupled with a persistent digital divide between urban and rural areas.

A National Foundational Learning Mission would be launched that would mandate daily periods for reading and numeracy. Targeted remedial classes would be arranged that would group students by their actual competency level rather than just their age.

A national teacher competency framework would be put in place, shifting away from rote-learning methods toward continuous professional development and digital pedagogical training.

The government would bedigitising teacher attendance and the management of school grants, deploying school performance dashboards for better oversight, and gradually increasing the national education budget toward a target of 4–5 percent of GDP.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) would be modernised to ensure it accounts for a 25 percent share of education by 2030.

Mandatory internships and career counselling centres would be introduced, while industry advisory boards would ensure educational outcomes match market demands.

Youth and women would get special attention, and there would be equitable healthcare services to enhance the productivity of the national workforce.

The government also has a three-pronged approach to boosting the creative sector’s economic contribution.

About 200,000 youth (Gen Z/Alpha) would be upskilled in digital and creative arts, and the Bangladesh Creative Development Authority would be established with 64 district creative hubs.

A “Creative in Bangladesh” brand would be launched, and 100 Bangladeshi films/shows would be made for global streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+.

As many as 46 vulnerable heritage sites would be climate-proofed, while 40 heritage tourism sites would be renovated. The government would also introduce the “Heritage Award”.

The stepswould ensure that the creative sector’s contribution to GDP would increase from the existing 0.17 percent to 1.5 percent by 2035.​

 

[Saif]

The Financial Express | First Financial Daily of Bangladesh

Get latest stock share market news, financial news, economy news, politics news, breaking news, Bangladesh economy news at The Financial Express.

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

FICCI seeks business-friendly policy environment to boost investment

FE ONLINE REPORT

Published :
May 19, 2026 20:36
Updated :
May 19, 2026 20:36

Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) called for a predictable and business-friendly policy environment to enable investors to better anticipate tax structures and make informed investment decisions.

It also highlighted the need for a long-term budgetary roadmap.

The Chamber also stressed the importance of competitive tax policies, policy consistency, and transparency to strengthen investor confidence and enhance Bangladesh’s competitiveness among peer economies.

The demands were made on Tuesday when a delegation from the FICCI, led by its President Rupali Haque Chowdhury, met with Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

They discussed the upcoming National Budget for FY2026–27 and Bangladesh’s broader economic priorities under the new government.

The delegation included Senior Vice President Deepal Abeywickrema, Vice President Mohammad Iqbal Chowdhury, and other members of the FICCI Board of Directors.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the country’s investment climate, current economic challenges, and measures needed to attract greater foreign direct investment (FDI).

The discussion served as a constructive platform for sharing private sector perspectives and exploring opportunities for closer collaboration between the government and the business community in support of sustainable economic growth.

FICCI Board members reaffirmed the Chamber’s commitment to working closely with the government to attract quality investment and contribute to Bangladesh’s long-term development goals.​

 

[Saif]

Reframing economic governance: from tax collection to wealth creation

Economic growth cannot be sustained merely through increasing taxes, tightening regulations, or expanding compliance requirements. True and sustainable national prosperity is created when entrepreneurs, businesses, industries, and productive sectors are enabled to grow, innovate, employ people, gen

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Reframing economic governance: from tax collection to wealth creation

Md Fazlur Rahman

Published :
May 19, 2026 23:56
Updated :
May 19, 2026 23:56

Economic growth cannot be sustained merely through increasing taxes, tightening regulations, or expanding compliance requirements. True and sustainable national prosperity is created when entrepreneurs, businesses, industries, and productive sectors are enabled to grow, innovate, employ people, generate exports, and create taxable wealth.

In many developing economies, including Bangladesh, there is an increasing perception among entrepreneurs that businesses are being treated primarily as sources of revenue extraction rather than as strategic engines of national development.

Regulators, tax authorities, banks, auditors, and professional institutions often focus heavily on tax collection, penalties, documentation, compliance enforcement, regulatory reporting, audit formalities, and interest income generation. However, this insight does not aim to oppose taxation, regulation, auditing, or financial oversight. Rather, it seeks to reposition these functions into a growth-supportive framework where all stakeholders contribute towards national wealth creation before wealth extraction.

It should be kept in mind that an economy grows through the expansion of productive activities. Governments alone do not independently generate taxable income. Tax revenue ultimately originates from business activity, industrial production, trade, services, employment, investment, and entrepreneurship. Therefore, the principal objective of economic policy should be "how to create more taxpayers through growth," rather than merely "how to collect more tax from existing taxpayers."

In reality, when business is burdened by excessive financing costs, regulatory complexities, multiple compliance layers, unpredictable policies, harassment, weak infrastructure, delayed approvals, aggressive tax enforcement, economic expansion slows down. As a result, employment falls, consumption weakens, investment declines, bank defaults increase and eventually government revenue shrinks.

In this context, only effective economic governance can facilitate a transition from a 'collection-centric model' to a 'growth-centric model.

To strengthen our economic sector, foremost priority should be given to our entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are the wheel of economic development, as they take risk, invest capital, create employment, generate exports, build industries, pay taxes, support the banking systems, and drive innovation.

Yet, in practice, many entrepreneurs feel that institutions such as tax authorities, banks, utility providers, regulators, auditors, compliance agencies, and licensing authorities are primarily focused on extracting money from them. A nation cannot achieve sustainable prosperity if entrepreneurs are viewed merely as tax-paying entities rather than strategic national assets.

Right after the entrepreneurs, we need to shed light on the role of regulators. Their role is indispensable in ensuring financial stability, market discipline, consumer protection, transparency, and fair competition. However, regulation should support economic expansion, not unintentionally suppress it.

In many cases, however, regulators tend to emphasise control, punishment, excessive compliance, restrictions, and short-term revenue collection, while paying comparatively less attention to business facilitation, economic expansion, investment confidence, industrial growth, and employment generation.

In today's world, the role and philosophy of a modern regulator should evolve into that of a progressive facilitator, risk manager, economic enabler, stability provider, and growth partner. The ultimate objective should be to enhance the nation's productive capacity.

Then comes the banking sector. Undoubtedly, banks play a critical role in economic growth by channeling savings into productive investment. However lending rates often remain excessively high, risk pricing becomes unrealistic, collateral requirements are impractical, SMEs lack adequate access to finance, and restructuring support remains limited.

As a result, productive businesses suffer significantly. In many cases, banks continue to generate profits through high spreads, senior management receives substantial compensation, while entrepreneurs bear the full operational and market risk.

Consequently, the business sector weakens, leading to higher NPLs, lower investment, reduce employment, and ultimately, instability within the banking sector itself. Based on this context, it is high time to reform the banking sector by strengthening support for SME financing, long-term industrial funding, startup ecosystems, export-oriented sectors, technology investment, and agricultural modernisation.

In reframing economic governance, the roles of accountants and auditors are also inevitable. Through transparency, accountability, governance, financial discipline, and investor confidence, they can play a pivotal role in restoring good governance in the economic sector.

Nevertheless, the question still remains: are accounting and audit systems sufficiently contributing to economic growth and business sustainability?

Several challenges still persist in this field, as many businesses perceive accounting and auditing as compliance-heavy, tax-focused, documentation-oriented, and backward-looking rather than strategic. Furthermore, some audited accounts prove to be materially inaccurate, early warning systems often fail, audit quality varies, and business advisory roles remain underdeveloped.

To overcome these challenges, a modern accounting system must evolve beyond traditional bookkeeping and tax compliance roles. Accountants should become strategic financial planners, business advisors, risk analysts, productivity consultants, sustainability partners, and facilitators of corporate governance. Their effective contribution can support business survival, financial restructuring, efficiency improvement, investment planning, and national productivity enhancement.

The same principle also applies to auditing, as auditing should not become merely a procedural exercise. The true value of auditing lies in enhancing trust, improving governance, detecting risk early, strengthening sustainability and protecting stakeholders. However, if auditors fail to identify major risks, becomes excessively checklist-driven, discourage entrepreneurial flexibility, and adds cost without strategic value, then their contribution to economic growth becomes questionable.

Therefore, auditing should increasingly incorporate with sustainability assessment, business continuity evaluation, operational efficiency review, government quality measurement, and forward-looking risk analysis.

Tax policy also should be designed with careful consideration, as an effective tax system encourages investment, rewards compliance, supports business expansion, widens the tax base, promotes formalisation, and increases long-term revenue generation. In this regard, policymakers should recognise that sustainable tax revenue can only be achieved through higher economic activity.

It should also be remembered that aggressive taxation without growth may shrink business activity, encourage informality, discourage investment, and reduce competitiveness.

Therefore, the government should remain focus on ensuring a business-supportive tax policy framework. In this context, the government may consider measures such as lower taxes on productive reinvestment, startup tax incentives, export-oriented incentives, SME-friendly tax frameworks, simplified compliance systems, stable long-term tax policies, reduced harassment and discretionary enforcement, and technology-based transparent assessment mechanisms to ensure a smoother and more efficient tax environment. Moreover, the primary objective should be to grow the economy first, as sustainable tax revenue naturally follows economic expansion.

Besides, economic development requires strong collaboration among the government, regulators, banks, accountants, auditors, investors, entrepreneurs, and workers, because no single group can create prosperity alone. A country progresses when regulators facilitate, banks finance responsibly, accountants provide strategic guidance, auditors strengthen governance, entrepreneurs invest confidently, and governments ensure policy stability. To achieve these, all stakeholders must align towards one national objective: sustainable wealth creation.

What the economy requires today is a strategic and coordinated reform agenda that redefines the role of regulation, banking, taxation, auditing, and entrepreneurship in national development.

Regulatory systems must move away from an enforcement-centric mindset towards a facilitation centric approach. Excessive compliance requirements, bureaucratic rigidity, and unpredictable regulatory interventions often discourage investment and suppress productive economic activity. Introducing business impact assessments before major regulations and reducing unnecessary compliance burdens can create a more supportive and investment-friendly environment.

Likewise, banking sector reforms should focus on enabling productive financing rather than merely protecting short-term institutional interests. Lowering the cost of capital, expanding SME and startup access to credit, and encouraging long-term financing are essential to accelerating sustainable economic growth.

The accounting and auditing professions must also evolve beyond conventional compliance functions. Accountants should increasingly serve as strategic advisors to business, while auditors should strengthen governance through higher audit quality, greater independence, and forward-looking risk evaluation. Value-added audit practice can play a significant role in enhancing transparency, sustainability, and investor confidence.

Tax policy, too requires a fundamental shift in philosophy. Policies that incentivise reinvestment, industrial growth can ultimately broaden the tax base, simplify compliance systems and promote broader tax participation through economic expansion.

At the same time, a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem must be treated as a national economic priority. Reducing barriers to entry, supporting innovation and startups, and ensuring policy predictability can ensure the reformation entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Basically, no nation can tax itself into prosperity. National wealth must first be created before it can be distributed or taxed.

Entrepreneurs, productive businesses, and industries are not merely revenue sources-they are the engines of national growth. However, regulators must facilitate, banks must support productive investment, accountants must become strategic advisors, auditors must enhance sustainability, governments must prioritise growth-oriented policies.

A strong economy is built not through excessive extraction, but through enabling productive capacity, innovation, investment, and confidence.

The ultimate objective of all economic governance should be: creating more sustainable businesses, more employment, more productivity, and ultimately more national prosperity."​