With time running out, finance advisor vows to push through reforms before polls

He vows to carry out as much reform work as possible until the next election

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has vowed to carry out as many economic reforms as possible before the 13th national parliamentary elections, likely to be held in February before Ramadan.

“Our time is limited as the election timeline was announced yesterday. We’ll be leaving soon. So, between now and February, we’ll do as much reform work as we can. In fact, we’ve already started,” he said on Wednesday while inaugurating a nationwide tree-planting campaign at the Bangladesh Krishi Bank Staff College in Dhaka's Mirpur.

Noting that the implementation of reforms is a continuous process, he said, “Reform are ongoing, we know that. There’s no need to repeat it. Just as life moves on, so do reforms. Still, we’ll start what work we can.”

On Tuesday, in a national address marking July Uprising Day, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus said the government would formally notify the Election Commission to prepare for elections by February, ahead of Ramadan.

The announcement ended weeks of speculation and uncertainty about whether the timeline for the next election. Though a specific date was not set, the interim government’s intent is now clear and reflected in the remarks of senior officials like Salehuddin.

The finance advisor was also critical of the previous government’s record in the banking sector, highlighting widespread irregularities and mismanagement.

“Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur was my student. He used to say he worked for the IMF and had been involved in projects in over 100 countries. And even he said he had never seen anything like that -- 80 percent of bank funds being siphoned off,” he said.

He went on to cite some of the world's poorest economies as a comparison, adding: “In one case, a bank that had Tk 200 billion in deposits saw Tk 160 billion vanish. That includes your money, my money, everyone’s money.”

The former central bank chief acknowledged that although the interim government has stabilised the banking sector to an extent, it has not been able to complete all necessary reforms just yet.

Salehuddin praised the tree-planting initiative being carried out across 38 branches of Krishi Bank, urging proper care and maintenance of the saplings.