Indian red-tapism delaying LoC projects: Mannan

Planning Minister M A Mannan on Tuesday said Indian bureaucratic tangles slowed down (implementation of) the Bangladeshi projects taken under the Delhi-supported Line of Credit (LoC).

"The LoC is a bilateral loan. It is bureaucracy-based. Our bureaucracy claims that the Indian bureaucracy is the main reason behind the delay. The Indian side says Bangladesh's bureaucracy is the factor."

"But, so far I know that the Indian bureaucratic tangles are slowing down the projects," he also said.

"We are hopeful of resolving the problems in implementing the LoC-supported projects in Bangladesh after the Prime Minister's India visit."

Mr Mannan was speaking as a guest in the DJFB Development Talks at the NEC conference room in the city. The Development Journalists Forum of Bangladesh (DJFB) organised the talks with its president Hamiduzzaman Mamun in the chair.

When asked about the present economic scenario, the planning minister said the economy would rebound from this October, as the existing food reserve is higher, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan would be confirmed, and inflation would decline.

"I've previously told that the inflation will be higher in August. Now it could remain high in September too. But we are hopeful of a falling inflationary pressure from October."

"Besides, Bangladesh is a wage-based economy. Some wages go outside the country and some wages come to Bangladesh from overseas."

So, the country could achieve 6.5-7.0 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current fiscal year (FY), 2022-23, he opined.

"The IMF, in principle, has agreed to provide US$4.5 billion worth of loan to Bangladesh after we've sought the fund."

"When we borrow even from our friends, they give us some conditions. The IMF will certainly give some conditions for taking its loan. But we will consider the conditions that we can fulfill."

Regarding oil price hike and inflation, the planning minister noted that the fuel prices might be adjusted soon, but those could not be brought down to the previous level.

"The US dollar price is falling, but it is still selling at about Tk 107-108 each. Its price around Tk 100 each can be a comfortable one at this moment."

When asked about corruption in project implementation, Mr Mannan said graft is visible here. "Poverty is one of the reasons behind the corruption in Bangladesh."

"We invested lot of money in the first 10 years of this government. That time we were a bit liberal, considering development of our infrastructure. But we're now very much cautious in public spending. We're not only maintaining austerity, but also trying to ensure quality of the projects."

"The government is now focusing on education and health sectors. But infrastructure will also be the highest priority of the government."

The minister also supported using EVM machines in the national election, as he is very fond of technology and machine-friendly.