During Sheikh Hasina's 15-year tenure as prime minister of Bangladesh, an estimated $16 billion (Tk1.3 lakh crore) was illicitly transferred abroad each year, according to findings presented in a newly released white paper.
The revelations came to light during an event held at the Chief Adviser's Office in Tejgaon, Dhaka on Sunday (1 December).
The committee submitted its report to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at his Tejgaon office, saying they were horrified by the level of corruption, plunder, and statistical manipulation conducted by Hasina's regime.
Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, a top economist and the distinguished fellow of the Dhaka-based think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue, headed the committee. He led his team at the handover ceremony.
Chief Adviser Professor Yunus thanked the committee for doing a landmark, saying it should be published once it is finalised and be taught in textbooks in national college and university curricula.
“This is a historic document. It will show us the economy we inherited after the July-August mass uprising. The nation will benefit from this document,” said the Chief Adviser in his short speech before receiving the White Paper.
"Our blood curdles to know how they plundered the economy. The sad part is they looted the economy openly. And most of us could not summon courage to confront it," he said.
Even the multilateral agencies that monitor Bangladesh's economy were also largely silent when this plunder took place, he said.
Head of the committee, Debapriya Bhattacharya, said they worked independently without any interference from the government.
“The problem is deeper than what we have thought,” he said, adding that the 30-chapter and 400-page long White Paper will show how crony capitalism gave birth to the Oligarchs, who controlled the policy framing.
Committee member Mustafizur Rahman said they examined seven large projects out of 29 projects with over Tk 10,000 crore expenditure outlay for each. The total expenses on 29 large projects were $87 billion, or Tk 7,80,000 crore.
The estimated initial cost of the seven projects examined was Tk 1,14,000 crore. The project costs were later revised to Tk 1,95,000 crore by adding many components, showing an inflated land price, and manipulating the purchase.
The project costs were raised almost 70 percent without analysing the cost benefit, he said.
He also suggested the start of special prosecution to try people who were involved in money laundering.
Committee member Prof. AK Enamul Haque said in the last 15 years over Tk 700,000 crore was spent on the Annual Development Programme (ADP), and 40 percent of the money was plundered by bureaucrats.
Committee member Mohammad Abu Eusuf revealed that the amount of tax exemption during the past regime was six percent of the total GDP of the country.
If it could be reduced to half, the education budget could be doubled and the health budget could be tripled, he said.
M. Tamim, another member of the committee, said $30 billion was invested on power generation, and if the kickback was considered 10 percent, the amount would be at least $3 billion.
Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur, Principal Secretary Sirajuddin Sathi, and Senior Secretary Lamiya Morshed were also present.
The report titled Dissection of a Development Narrative is expected to be made available for the public soon.
The interim government, which assumed power following the mass student-led uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government, had formed the committee to publish a comprehensive white paper detailing the state of the nation's economy.
The 12-member committee, headed by Dr Debapriya, commenced its work on 28 August.
It engaged with stakeholders and conducted internal meetings to formulate its findings.
The white paper not only analyses the macroeconomic and sectoral economic conditions during Hasina’s reign but also provides recommendations for future action.
It serves as a crucial document to understand the economic reality beneath the glossy veneer of the so-called "development narrative."
