CPD - Dhaka Mirror

CPD not giving true picture over fund allocation: DSE

Admin — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:33:51 +0000

The Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday differed with the Centre for Policy Dialogue on the latter’s statement that the government’s move to allocate Tk 900 crore for compensating small-scale investors was due to lack of proper governance.
‘The CPD’s statement is not giving the true picture over the allocation as the brokers are taking the money as loan which is subject to 10 per cent interest,’ DSE president Rakibur Rahman told at a press briefing while replying to a question.
He said the CPD said the government failed to punish the culprits involved in the stock market crash of 2011 and was now using taxpayers’ money to facilitate investors.
‘The money is not a gift. The government will get return from it and the small-scale investors will also be benefited,’ he said.
Rakibur said the DSE was proactive to save the investors’ interest.
‘We submitted our proposal to the National Board of Revenue to change some policies to make the market vibrant and to strengthen the economy,’ he said.
Rakibur said the listed companies should ensure proper financial reporting and the DSE was focusing on the issue currently.
DSE senior vice-president Ahmed Rashid Lali said that the bourse had set up a demutualisation cell which was working to complete the demutualisation by November.
‘We are bound by the law to complete the process within 90 days and we are working hard to keep things on course,’ he said.

-With New Age input

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CPD against populist measures in new budget ahead of polls

Admin — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 04:52:59 +0000

The Centre for Policy Dialogue on Saturday said the government should be cautious and show restrain in preparing the national budget for the new fiscal year before general elections.
The CPD, a private think-tank, also urged the government not to give more focus on populist measures in the new fiscal year just because of the election year.In a media briefing on ‘Recommendations for the national budget FY 2013-14’ in Dhaka its officials argued that the new fiscal measures should not be heavy with the populist measures as those might hamper the prudent financial management.
Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of the think-tank, told reporters that the government should calculate carefully before adopting the new fiscal measures against the backdrop of the lingering political uncertainties.
‘The government has to sustain many pressures ahead of the national elections,’ he said. Debapriya pointed out that the new fiscal measures on the point of view of restrains would be more effective.
The CPD observed that the budgetary allocation for education and health sector might shrink as the government plans to implement the multi-billion-dollar Padma Bridge with own fund because of non-availability of loan from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency.
It said the government should not give any opportunity of legalising undisclosed money. It argued that offering such opportunity in name of attracting investment was ‘unethical’.
The CPD projected that growth rate of the country’s gross domestic product in the outgoing fiscal year would not cross 6 per cent. It said projected GDP growth rate of 7.2 was ambitious. It urged the government to project a ‘realistic’ growth projection for the new fiscal year.
The CPD, while evaluating the indicators of the outgoing fiscal year, said the inflow of remittance and the implementation rate of the annual development programme were good.
But revenue mobilisation is not up to the mark because of growing shortfall between collection and projection, it said. The revenue generation target may miss the target, it projected.
The CPD blamed that the ongoing political situation was hampering the macro-economic stability.
It said the government should enhance monitoring into the share market and introduce a code of conduct for attracting long-term investment.
The CPD observed that the government failed to make expected progress in addressing the electricity shortage. It noted that the gap between demand and generation was still 2,500 megawatt.
It urged the government to put aside special allocation in the budget for repairing the damaged power stations caused due to political violence in the last two months.
newagebd

-With New Age input

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Bangladesh doing well among LDCs

Admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:45:56 +0000

States Unctad report
Bangladesh has done better than many other least developed countries (LDCs) in terms of overall development scenario, particularly in economic vulnerability category, according to LDC Report 2011 released yesterday by Unctad.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) unveiled the report at its office on behalf of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).
However, with the better performance in reducing economic vulnerability, Bangladesh requires to increase per capita gross national income (GNI) and improve human assets index further to obtain the status of a developing country.
According to the report, Bangladesh’s per capita GNI stands at $640, below the threshold of $905, while the human assets index is 53.3, also below the threshold of 60. The graduation level for this category is 66. However, the country’s score in the economic vulnerability index is 23.2 against the threshold of 38, which is good.
“We need to improve performances in at least two out of these three categories,” said CPD Executive Director Mustafizur Rahman at the report launching ceremony.
Fahmida Khatun, CPD head of research, presented the report which suggested that the 48 LDCs tap the potential of south-south cooperation (with developing countries) to attain inclusive and sustainable development.
Predicting a slow plunge in short- and mid-term economic growth of the LDCs due to ongoing economic crisis, the Unctad recommended increasing of trade and investment through south-south cooperation to enhance productive capacities.
The report said Bangladesh is the top recipient of remittance and the 6th biggest exporting country among the LDCs. Angola, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar and Equatorial Guinea serially topped the list of most successful exporters among the LDCs.
Bangladesh’s share of total LDC merchandise export to Southern partners (developing countries) is 3.2 per cent. The country showed resilience to offset external shock during the global recession and has achieved a satisfactory level of real GDP per capita in comparison to many other LDCs, the report said.
The report prised the share and trend of capital formation in Bangladesh but suggested to reduce savings-investment gap.
It also showed that Bangladesh’s debt service to export ratio fell from 39.9 per cent in 1990 to 5.5 per cent in 2009.
Of the LDCs, Bangladesh maintains a low external debt GDP ratio, said Fahmida Khatun, adding that the country’s external debt-GDP ratio declined from 40.8 per cent in the 1990 to 26.7 per cent in 2009.

-With The Daily Star input

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