Project culture diverting BBS from core statistical work: Taskforce Report

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has become increasingly detached from its core function of producing regular and impartial national data due to an excessive reliance on project-based operations, according to a newly released taskforce report.

The report, unveiled on Monday during an event marking National Statistics Day, warns that this “project culture” has diverted BBS’s focus away from its primary responsibilities, weakened field-level data collection, compromised data quality, and fostered a Dhaka-centric bureaucracy.

The taskforce, formed by the Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) on April 28, 2025, comprises eight independent experts. Its mandate was to review BBS’s quality, transparency, survey methods, and institutional capacity, and recommend reforms.

The report identifies political sensitivity, bureaucratic complexity, and overdependence on externally funded projects as key factors delaying and distorting data publication. It states that BBS has long been trapped in a donor-driven, project-dependent framework that has eroded institutional memory, fostered unhealthy internal competition, and left the field operations under-resourced.

Tracing the roots of this culture, the report notes that BBS became donor-dependent around FY2006–07 due to funding uncertainty. Over time, this evolved into a full-blown project culture, creating “data silos,” imposing externally dictated methodologies, and encouraging inefficiency and waste in budget management.Taskforce Chair Hossain Zillur Rahman said, “To transform BBS into a modern, professional, and independent national statistical institution, it must break free from project dependency and adopt a permanent structure backed by policy reform.”

The report also warns that BBS remains vulnerable to political interference. Administrative and political pressures often influence whether data that might reflect poorly on government performance are released, undermining both the credibility and timeliness of official statistics.

“A credible National Statistics Office (NSO) is the backbone of modern statecraft,” the report notes. “Public trust in government statistics will only be restored when data are produced professionally, transparently, and free from political influence.”

Among its final recommendations, the taskforce proposes forming a Task Team led by the Planning Adviser to oversee and drive the implementation of these reforms.

“We hope this analysis and these recommendations will help BBS evolve into a truly strong and independent statistical institution — one that serves both the state and its citizens,” said Hossain Zillur Rahman.