Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur said on Monday that inflation would not decrease in any country before a year, no matter what policy is implemented.
"There will be no famine in Bangladesh. Our growth has not decreased. We have passed only four months. I need 8 more months to reduce inflation," he assured.
There will be no economic recession in Bangladesh. But the slowdown in the growth rate in the country was inevitable, he said.
The governor asked, 'Have we become Sri Lanka? Of course not, our growth has not been negative; the economy has not collapsed. It could have been, but it did not.' There should be some kind of understanding in this regard that Bangladesh has been able to avoid recession. For that, there should also be appreciation.
Dr Ahsan H Mansur made the remarks at the third Bangladesh Economic Conference-2024 held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the capital. The conference titled 'Discrimination, Financial Crime and Healing the Bangladesh Economy' was organised by Dainik Banik Barta.
The central bank is now trying to achieve macroeconomic stability. In this reality, Dr Ahsan H Mansur predicted that the growth rate in the country will decrease slightly. He further said that the central bank has been holding discussions with banks and business organisations in phases to achieve stability. The boards of directors of the affected banks have been changed. There is regular communication with the new boards. Bangladesh Bank is monitoring the cash flow of these banks every day. If a family takes Tk 23,000 crore from a bank, what will happen to that bank? Something new needs to be done for these banks.
The governor said that the Bank Resolution Act will be enacted, through which all powers will come into the hands of the central bank, and it will be done legally. As a result, everything including bank mergers and acquisitions will be possible.
Some banks will have to be recapitalised, some banks will have to bring new investments. A legal framework is needed to do all this, that work is being done now. The quality of bank assets is already under review.
Commenting that the banking sector has been the most affected in Bangladesh, he said, "The country's financial sector is the weakest, even more than Pakistan's. This weakness of the financial sector has left its mark on the country's economy. We have to bear its consequences. The situation is at such a level that it has not been possible to do anything future-oriented so far; rather, we have to bear the consequences of the past and do corrective work."
Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Executive Director of the Institute of Inclusive Finance and Development (INM) Mustafa K Mujeri, Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited Mohammad Javed Akhtar, and Associate Vice Chancellor (Education) of Dhaka University Professor Saima Haque also spoke at the event.
