Staff Reporter :
From now on Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has been empowered to publish official data without prior government approval as part of policy reforms aimed at improving the credibility and accuracy of national statistics.
At present, approval from the planning minister and head of state is required before the BBS can publish data. This process causes significant delays in data publishing, as files often remain stuck in limbo before ultimately being approved.
As a result, data are published much later than expected. For example, data on inflation are supposed to be published by the BBS at the start of each month, but due to the complicated process, they were sometimes not even published halfway through a month.
Additionally, this process leaves room for independent economists and experts to cast doubt on the accuracy and reliability of government-published data for years.
These concerns were also voiced in the interim government’s White Paper on the State of the Bangladesh Economy, which described the previous regime’s practices of data manipulation as “the villain of the development narrative.”
On Wednesday, the government published two separate policies on data dissemination and statistical reporting, empowering the BBS director general to release data-including that for key indicators like GDP and inflation-following consultation with newly formed technical committees under the policies.
Ashikur Rahman, principal economist of the Policy Research Institute (PRI) of Bangladesh, welcomed the move.
“It is a common issue to not get accurate data in a timely manner. Any reform or new policy that cuts down on unnecessary bureaucracy is a welcome development. I appreciate it,” he said.
Beyond just cutting bureaucracy, both orthodox and non-orthodox indicators of development should be regularly published in annual reports, he said.
“This would enable accurate and timely policymaking.
An official from the Statistics and Informatics Division told media that these new policies grant BBS the autonomy it lacked despite the existence of the Statistics Act 2013, which intended to ensure timely and accurate data publication through expert oversight.
After that, the government only formulated a policy on how private organisations would publish data. However, no policy was introduced to ensure the accuracy of government data under the law.
Twelve years later, the policies have now been formulated as part of the interim government’s effort to ensure accurate and timely data.
The government has also formed an eight-member expert taskforce to improve the transparency, reliability, and accessibility of BBS data.
The committee will set timelines for releasing various types of data and statistical reports, and the BBS will publish them accordingly.
Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told journalists that while the BBS does not require government approval to publish data, it has to follow the guidance and vetting of the technical committees.
