Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday announced that digital dashboards will be established at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and various ministries to track the daily execution status and speed of national development projects.
“We have taken targeted initiatives to ensure the proper implementation of development projects,” the finance minister said while speaking at a discussion event on the proposed national budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The seminar was organised by the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) auditorium in the capital’s Kakrail area.
Khosru emphasised that the dashboards will provide real-time daily progress updates to top decision-makers. He noted that if the government can successfully complete even 80 per cent of the project work within the designated deadlines, the country will achieve strong economic growth.
The finance minister further remarked that the current administration is striving to reshape the structural model of the national budget, focusing heavily on the “democratisation of the economy” to allow all citizens to participate actively. He regretted that the financial ecosystem had previously degenerated into a “patronage economy”, where a selective, highly powerful group monopolised all state opportunities and facilities.
Speaking at the event, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) Chairman Abu Ahmed thanked the minister for setting an ambitious 6.5 per cent GDP growth target for the next fiscal year.
However, he cautioned that if final growth falls to 3.5 per cent, it would signal significant economic distress.
Abu Ahmed argued that businesses cannot survive under exceptionally high tax structures and elevated bank interest rates, urging a reduction in the policy interest rate to prevent private sector stagnation and rising poverty.
The seminar was presided over by Professor Mahbub Ullah, Convener of the BEA Interim Committee, and moderated by BEA Member-Secretary Mohammad Helal Uddin.
Key papers and perspectives were presented by Dr Mohammad Abdul Razzaque, chairman of Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID); Professor Sharmind Neelormi of Jahangirnagar University; Dr Mohammad Yunus, Dr Kazi Iqbal, and Dr Atanu Rabbani of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS); and Professor Saima Haq Bidisha of Dhaka University.
Other notable speakers included Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Emeritus Professor ATM Nurul Amin, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) President Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), Bangladesh Krishi Bank Chairman Mohammad Nurul Amin, and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) Executive Director Imran Matin.
