Staff Reporter :
Between $14-24 billion (equivalent to approximately Tk1.61-2.8 lakh crore) has reportedly been lost due to political extortion, bribery, and inflated budgets from the $60 billion invested in ADP and development projects over the past 15 years, according to sources from the White Paper Committee.
Due to taking non-viable projects, huge money goes in vein from the national budget experts said.
When contacted, prominent economist, Professor Dr. Mahbub Ullah told The New Nation on Saturday, “While the country run with scarcity of liquidity in banks and other financial institutions, huge unviable projects have harmed the national economy.”
Speaking at an event held on last Thursday, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, head of the committee, highlighted that their forthcoming report will address critical economic challenges, particularly the fragile state of the banking sector and the alarming scale of capital flight during the last 15 years under Awami League rule.
He said the people who involved in taking such unviable projects are responsible to irregularities like bribery and extortion to implement such schemes.
The findings were disclosed just ahead of the committee’s scheduled submission of the report to the Chief Adviser of the interim government, Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, on Sunday, with the full report set to be released at a press conference on Monday, 2 December.
A member of the White Paper Committee revealed that the former Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Abdur Rouf Talukder, had allegedly prevented the classification of significant loan defaults, particularly from influential conglomerates like S Alam Group.
This intervention reportedly enabled these entities to secure substantial loans under questionable terms.
The committee’s ongoing investigation has further uncovered discrepancies in the reporting of loan defaults and distressed assets in the banking sector.
It claims that the ousted Awami League government significantly underreported the true extent of non-performing loans and financial distress in the sector.
The comprehensive White Paper aims to provide a detailed analysis of Bangladesh’s economic trajectory, focusing on systemic issues such as financial mismanagement, unchecked capital flight, and the pervasive influence of vested interests on economic governance.
