2-3 percent of GDP lost to corruption: Muhith

Corruption eats up 2 to 3 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP and another 1 percent of it is lost due to political instability, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.

The damning indictment by the octogenarian finance minister came when he was addressing the Local Consultative Group (LCG) of the donors on Thursday.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) puts Bangladesh’s current GDP at around Tk 15.14 trillion, so a 3 percent loss of GDP would be as high as Tk 450 billion.

The minister told the LCG meeting on the 7th Five Year Plan that the government was determined to check corruption by using information and communication technology.

Muhith, who presented his seventh budget this year, has been vocal against corruption.

The bank officials involved in the high-profile Hall-Mark scam are escaping justice because of ‘obstructions’ within the ruling party, an angry Muhith had earlier told Parliament.

The 7th Five Year Plan’s target to create 18.7 million jobs was ‘ambitious’ but ‘very difficult to implement’, he said addressing the donors.

“The number of unemployed people in a country is based on the definition by International Labour Organisation (ILO). But their method didn’t reveal the real situation of unemployment in Bangladesh.

“Unemployment rate in Bangladesh is actually higher,” said the finance minister.

There are more than 33 million educated individuals in the country and 1.9 million among them are unemployed, according to the BBS.

AMA Muhith (File Photo)

Muhith said the quality of primary education was ‘satisfactory’ but secondary and technical education was not and needed improvement.

Bangladesh had maintained more than 6 percent economic growth for six consecutive years, he said, crediting it to lesser population growth.

 “Bangladesh is unique in the world for social security. But we must pay attention to the huge income inequality here.”

The 7th Five Year Plan wants to take GDP growth rate to 8 percent by 2020. The plans require foreign funds worth more than Tk 3 trillion.

The government’s meeting with the LCG was to discuss the requirements for receiving the fund from donors in five years.