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Introduction of e-filing alone is not enough in curtailing bureaucratic red tape or ensuring quality decision making in government's field-level offices, it was observed Sunday at a conference on ways of achieving economic development.     "Despite the introduction of e-filing, the content of the decision making remains complex," said Prime Minister's Adviser Dr. Mashiur Rahman, attributing the hurdles to bureaucratic process. "There are also layers of bureaucratic authority through which everything has to pass before a decision is taken," he added. "The real problem is not the mechanised efficiency of transmission of information but determining the authority to take a decision and to intervene if someone takes a wrong decision", said Dr. Mashiur, who himself was a career bureaucrat and a former secretary of the government. His views based on experiences gathered from a close range came at the "Development Economics Conference" jointly arranged at a city hotel by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development and International Growth Center. The government started introducing the electronic filing systems in Deputy Commissioner (DC) offices back in 2013. An e-filing system allows the local administrators to digitize files and letters and also enables them to move within the system digitally. The Deputy Commissioners can also observe how a certain file moves along the systems, identify where a file is located, and how many days it has been there from the system dashboard on his computer. It also enables them to monitor the performance of each officer working under him or her - who is holding how many files at the end of the day or month and how many days it takes an officer to process a file. Focusing on this initiative, Dr. Mashiur said, "If you define the disposal not as a process of transferring file from one place to another but look at what service the citizens want, who has the legal authority to deliver that service, is that service being granted within a reasonable amount of time and after taking proper evidence, that would give us a proper understanding of how e-filing system is working." "What we have tended to do is that in order to avoid the wrong decision being taken, we have distributed the duty. So, nobody knows when and how the decision will be taken," the PM adviser added. Earlier during the daylong conference, national and international experts focused on infrastructural development, agriculture, rural-to-urban migration as well as the effects of climate change on migration. Based on a research carried out on the garment workers of Bangladesh, Emily Breza of Harvard University said introducing electronic payment of workers' wages through banking channels tends to show substantial increase in their savings while increasing financial inclusion. "Such uptake of banking facilities is higher among the women," she added.   Focusing on the reason for seasonal migration of rural people in Bangladesh, Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale University noted that during September-to-November period each year, there is usually a substantial fall in the demand for labour and wages in rural areas of northern Bangladesh while the price of essentials go up. "This creates a seasonal poverty in those rural areas, which is the driving force behind seasonal migration," he added. Highlighting the general equilibrium effects of emigration on rural labour market, he noted that people can be three and a half times more productive in urban areas than rural areas. Focusing the correlation between employment generation, mass wellbeing and infrastructural development, Minjaj Mahmud of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies said in the first 10 years after the construction of Jamuna Bridge, there had been a substantial increase in the number of nonagricultural employments in the surrounding areas and total employment in Sirajganj had actually increased by 4 percent in-between 1998 and 2008. "Infrastructural development helps market integration which ultimately feeds the national growth and boosts industrialization process," said Member of the Planning Commission Professor Dr. Shamsul Alam, who chaired the first two sessions of the conference. Eminent economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud also spoke on the occasion. mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-13 00:00:05

The government has extended by eight days to 30 days the ban on catching, selling, transporting and hoarding hilsa in the peak-breeding season across the country. Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque made the disclosure while addressing a seminar on preserving jatkas and establishing sanctuary to increase hilsa production: research-progress' at the auditorium of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) in the capital. He said the production of hilsa reached 0.4 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2015-16 following various steps taken by the government.  As part of the steps, the government is observing the 'Jatka Protection Week-2017' beginning on March 11 to increase awareness among people to stop catching, trading and marketing hilsa fry, he said.    — UNB....

Published at: 2017-03-13 00:00:05

The local currency's real effective exchange rate, which is closely linked to trade situation, remained high and hit hard the country's export-competitiveness. As per official count, the rate was an all-time high last December. And people familiar with development told the FE that such higher appreciation of the taka could impact growth, tax revenues and banks' asset quality. The REER stood at 150.01 in December 2016, 140.31 in December 2015 and 126.58 in December 2014, according to a report prepared by the central bank. The calculations were based on the nominal exchange rates and inflation rates of the major trading partners. The IMF guidelines take into account inflation situation in 20 major trading partners in the case of Bangladesh. The REER or real effective exchange rate, which used to measure international price-and cost- competitiveness, as adjusted for the effects of inflation, was at less than 100 earlier in Bangladesh. Some economists argue that the authorities should now weaken the local currency to prop up the export-competitiveness although the taka had appreciated by more than one taka in a year to December 2016. They believe that rising trend in the financial account of the balance of payments is contributing much to the mismatch between currency and export trade. They argue that country's export receipts shrank significantly in July-February of this fiscal year as an eventual outcome of the real effective exchange rate. Exporters also do believe it. Export growth contracted by 3.22 per cent to US$ 22.84 billion in eight months to February of this fiscal year. Conversely, it had expanded by over 9.0 per cent in the same period of last fiscal year. On the other hand, if the taka remains on downward path against its most major global trading partners, it would facilitate export as its competitiveness gets enhanced on the international market. A gradual depreciation may give some relief to the exporters, said Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh. "If we want our exports to pick up, then now a weak taka will be good for exports," he commented. The nominal exchange rate between the taka and the US dollar was Tk 78 in December 2016, having appreciated to some extent from its value a year before. But, at the same time, capital-account regime of the balance-of-payments indicator should be opened up despite there may be a pressure on capital outflow, the policy researcher said. According to currency experts, the government and the central bank need to go for gradual depreciation, which is seen beneficial for export. This is one tool which the central bank could intervene with. "There is nothing left much for the central bank to intervene under such situation," a currency official at the Bangladesh Bank told the FE. Dr Zahid Husain, lead economist at the Dhaka office of the World Bank, told the FE that the strong taka is not only affecting the competitiveness but also impacting domestic industries which mostly market their products on the domestic market. "Look, for such higher appreciation in the REER, the imported goods will be cheaper to Bangladesh. Then how the local industry will survive," Dr Hussain commented. He said banks' asset quality may weaken as it impacts on export and economic growth. The central bank should monitor the foreign-exchange market and export performance, the World Bank economist suggested. "We've appreciated taka against dollar, but could we adjust with other currencies, like Euro, which were adjusted downward with dollar?" He posed the question.   The currency official of the Bangladesh Bank said reducing inflation may be one area which may arrest the upward trend to some extent. Bangladesh's inflation remained much higher in December 2016 in comparison with its major trading partners. The country's overall inflation was over 5.0 per cent in December 2016. On the other hand, China inflation was 2.31 per cent in the same month. India recorded 3.4 per cent in the same period while Germany had 1.68 and the USA 2.07 per cent. jasimharoon@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-03-13 00:00:05

Police arrested an alleged member of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi on Sunday evening. The arrestee is Abdul Awal, son of one Azizul Haque of Manda village in Srinagar upazila of Munshiganj, reports UNB. A police team arrested Awal from a business establishment at Arani Bazar, said officer-in-charge of Bagha Police Station who led the drive. Awal was arrested in 2005 under section 54. However, he was released from jail after 10 days, the OC added.....

Published at: 2017-03-13 00:00:05

An unidentified man was killed and two others, including a construction engineer, were injured as a girder of Malibagh-Mouchak-Mogbazar flyover collapsed near Malibagh rail gate in city early Monday, reports UNB. Moshiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station, said the girder suddenly slipped while it was lifted by a crane around 1:45am, leaving three people seriously injured. The injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where one succumbed to his injuries, said sub-inspector Bachchu, in-charge of DMCH police camp. The injured Polash, a construction engineer, and Nurunnabi were being treated at the hospital.....

Published at: 2017-03-13 00:00:05