Political democracy meaningless without economic democracy: Minister

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said Political democracy cannot deliver meaningful results without economic democracy, stressing the need to ensure people's participation in economic activities and policymaking.

He made the remarks at a discussion marking National Statistics Day 2026 at the Statistics Building in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Sunday.  

The minister said transparency was impossible without reliable information, adding that the government was working to ensure greater transparency in data and had granted full independence to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) to achieve that goal.

Emphasising the importance of accurate and credible government data, Amir Khosru said information was the government's most valuable asset. Effective policymaking, development planning and implementation of government programmes were impossible without reliable statistics.

He said statistical data must be transparent, credible and measurable so that citizens, researchers and policymakers could place their trust in it.

Manipulating government data, he warned, would amount to deceiving the government itself.

The minister also highlighted the importance of coordination between government officials and the administration's policy priorities, saying the cooperation of public servants was essential to implementing the changes initiated by the elected government.

On economic democracy, he said public participation in economic activities and decision-making was essential. Reliable statistics could help identify inequalities, address problems and create opportunities for research.

Amir Khosru Mahmud stressed that accurate information was the first requirement for understanding the root causes of any problem. The government was prioritising data and statistics to identify past shortcomings and find solutions.

Describing data as a key asset on the government's balance sheet, he called for greater public access to official information.

The more information the government made publicly available, he said, the more feedback it would receive from citizens, making it easier to identify shortcomings and make necessary policy adjustments.

Amir Khosru said initiatives were underway to develop an open online data repository so that researchers and ordinary citizens could easily access and use statistical information.

He emphasised that data should not remain the exclusive property of the government but should be accessible to researchers, citizens and other stakeholders.

The minister also underscored the need to address weaknesses in policy implementation alongside formulating policies.

Highlighting the importance of digital infrastructure, he said reliable data would be essential to implementing the government's proposed "One Citizen, One Wallet, One Card" initiative.

He assured that the government would restore the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics to its full operational capacity, acknowledging its staffing shortages and other institutional challenges.

Some decisions had already been taken to address these problems, and further steps would be taken, he added.