Bangladesh won’t step into ‘debt trap’ while she is in power, says Hasina at China event

Bangladesh is alert to the risks of stepping into a “debt trap” even though it is implementing a number of mega projects with foreign credits, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said.

“Bangladesh will never step into a debt trap in my tenure,” she is quoted to have said at a panel discussion in China where she has joined a World Economic Forum conference.

The conference in Dalian, referred to as ‘Summer Davos’, is formally known as ‘WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions-2019”.

At the discussion titled “Cooperation in the Pacific Rim”, Hasina faced a question on China’s engagement in implementing several mega projects in her country as many in Bangladesh are concerned after Sri Lanka’s ratio of foreign debt to GDP rose significantly.

Bangladesh was not worried about the “debt trap” as the deals with China were appropriately negotiated, Hasina replied, according to Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque who spoke to reporters on Tuesday.

The prime minister noted that Bangladesh’s foreign loan/GDP rate rose to 14.3 percent this year from 12 percent last year while the rate is 66 percent in Sri Lanka and 34 percent in India, Shahidul said.

"As long as these mega projects are in our people’s interests, have the right pay off and negotiated rightly, we must not be worried,” the secretary quoted her as saying.

Asked how she maintains friendship with both Asian foes India and China, Hasina said: “In the past 10 years of our government, I have tried to position Bangladesh in a balanced and objective manner with all our friends globally to optimise our economic and development aspirations.”

She placed a five-point proposal at the discussion to address the key concerns of smaller communities and weaker economies for their collective take-off endeavours, which she felt was crucial for a sustainable global economy.

The five proposals include creating a condition for peace and stability in all the countries, focusing more on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs set by the UN, and an inclusive development.