BNP describes govt’s celebrations of graduation from LDC as perverse farce

The BNP says it finds the celebration of Bangladesh’s graduation from a least developed country or LDC to a developing nation to be a perverse farce.

Bangladesh is celebrating the new status with a great deal of fanfare on Thursday.

“This celebration by the government is a perverse farce. The entire city has stalled. People have been stuck on the streets for hours,” said senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Addressing a media briefing at the party offices, Rizvi claimed that public servants are being forced to take part in the Awami League events “in the name of development”.

Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of BNP, described the government’s claims of development and a developing nation status as a ‘gimmick’ ahead of the elections.

“This is nothing but a mockery.”

Claiming that unemployment in Bangladesh was the highest in South Asia, he said: “Inequality is the highest among Asian nations, which means the poor are getting poorer and the rich are becoming richer.”

Bangladesh has fulfilled the eligibility requirements to graduate from LDC to a developing nation status and can seek official approval for the advance, the UN said.

Its Committee for Development Policy handed a letter announcing Bangladesh’s eligibility for graduation to Bangladesh Permanent Ambassador to the UN Masud Bin Momen on Mar 16 in New York.

This begins the graduation process for Bangladesh, which could receive the official developing country status by 2024.

According to the UN, Bangladesh met the requirements in March 2018.

Bangladesh has been on the UN LDC list since 1975.

Graduation depends upon meeting eligibility criteria scores in Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, the Human Assets Index (HAI) and the Economic Vulnerability (EVI) Index and other country-specific information.

The scores required for graduation from the LDC category are a per capita GNI of $1,230 or above, an HAI of 66 or above and an EVI of 32 or below, according to the standard set by Ecosoc, the UN’s Economic and Social Council.

Bangladesh’s current GNI per capita is $1,610, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics or BBS.

However, according to the UN, Bangladesh’s GNI per capita is $1,274.

The UN said in a 2018 report Bangladesh’s HAI is 73.2 and its EVI 25.2.

Bangladesh has initially qualified for these three criteria together. Bangladesh is the only country in the world in this feature.