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Waves of neo-protectionism, especially in the world's biggest economy -- the United States -- come as a matter of grave concern for Bangladesh as economists say it may hit hard the country's export trade. According to leading economists, the government should take the matter seriously with its policies to circumvent any unwanted situation in the economy. The protectionist rhetoric from the White House since President Donald Trump took office has rattled many developing economies that are dependent on merchandise export to the United States. Protectionism is an economic policy of restraining trade between states or countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. Protectionist policies protect the producers, businesses and workers of the import-competing sectors in a country from foreign competitors. Dr Ahsan H Mansur told the FE that the issue was raised by the economists and broadly discussed in a recent meeting which actually was organised for consultation with the country's leading economists and professionals on the preparation of the next budget. "Our export may be hit hard if the USA advocates a strong protectionism considering the interests of its economy," the economist told the FE. Executive director at Dhaka-based ERG (Economic Research Group) Dr Sajjad Zohir sees many early signs of protectionism in many major economies, including the USA. He told the FE that the government should now focus on internal consolidation as a shield against such external adversities. He said raising subsidy is not a solution. "We need to expand our domestic market on sustained basis." Dr Zahid Hussain, lead economist at the Dhaka office of the World Bank, said if the USA imposes higher tariffs on its imports, then Bangladesh will be victimised. "We usually do not get any favour in the largest economy, but if we face higher tariff, then it will impact our exports," he said. The World Bank economist, however, suggests that Bangladesh should now consider how to raise its competitiveness to survive amid such higher barriers to trade. Dr Hussain noted that the present global trade is based on the US philosophy, so if it betrays that, then it will go against the spirit of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). However, the London-based Financial Times in its recent issue said the European Union may sue the US at the WTO if it imposed a controversial border-adjustment tax. Trump signed an executive order withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement among 11 Pacific-rim countries that has not been ratified by Congress. The move, however, came as a blessing in disguise for Bangladesh as the country had remained outside the partnership. Dr Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the world is now passing through many challenges as many counties are taking protectionist measures. He predicts that Bangladesh may also be affected if the USA really took aggressive measures against China as Bangladesh also is a leading clothing exporter to the US market. The concern also aired at a recent pre-budget meeting of finance Minister Mr Muhith with economists and professionals. After the meeting, Mr Muhith told newsmen that he also believes that the protectionism has apparently been growing in many major countries -- the USA, France and the United Kingdom. jasimharoon@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

The Ministry of Health has taken a decision to have separate examinations held by the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) for giving registration to the MBBS doctors. The ministry has recently informed the JS body on finance ministry about the decision at its 19th meeting. The decision came in the backdrop of criticism from some members of the parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry at its 18th meeting. The JS body members noted that skilled and quality doctors could not be developed in the mushrooming medical colleges set up countrywide where there is dearth of quality teachers. Health experts however expressed their dissatisfaction over the decision and the 'anarchy' currently prevailing in the health education sector. They noted that the health ministry is exerting authority in this regard in various ways which they are not supposed to do. The ministry officials cannot inspect private medical colleges or punish intern doctors, which are the responsibilities of the BMDC, the experts observed.   Besides, the government itself is setting up public medical colleges in various corners of the country indulging in irregularities and nepotism. Approval is also being given for establishing private medical colleges through widespread corruption. If such kind of professional examination is arranged, scope for corruption and irregularities will further increase, they commented. Former pro vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Prof Rashid-e-Mahbub told the FE that the medical degree is given by the public universities. So the BMDC should monitor the examination system which they used to do earlier as inspector. Terming the present initiative 'a peculiar thought' of the government, Dr Rashid said the BMDC must be in a strong position to monitor the quality of education of the medical colleges. If there is any medical college which does not comply with the pre-requisites and does not have quality teachers, the BMDC should close those, said chairman of National Committee on Health Rights Movement. Public health expert Dr MA Sabur said the BMDC is not under the ministry and so far it has not taken any such step. Echoing Dr Rashid, he said the BMDC should ensure quality education of the medical colleges and close down those which are running without quality teachers. The government takes decision to set up public medical colleges through irregularities and nepotism while private medical colleges are given approval in exchange for money, he remarked.   "None of the three authorities -- government, public universities and BMDC -- is discharging their duties properly," he said. "In addition to that, who will be the examiners in the new system?" Dr Sabur questioned. The existing professors who are taking MBBS examinations will be the same examiners if the BMDC takes any test which will again create scope for corruption and irregularities, he said. Health expert Dr Khairul Islam said how much practical is the initiative is a big question considering the organisational power, efficiency and manpower of BMDC.   He said the government itself has been saying that there is a lack of quality in medical education and the colleges are not compliant with various conditions and standards. At the same time, it has been giving approval for setting up medical colleges uncontrollably, he noted. If the regulator and implementing agency are the same, then the pressure will be on the private medical colleges only as the government is not talking about the quality of the public medical colleges. Dr Khairul suggested that there should be an accreditation council for medical education. In the health policy the issue of an accreditation body is mentioned which the government until date has not implemented, he said.                msshova@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

South Korea believes a North Korean missile launch on Wednesday did not go off normally, the South Korean defence ministry said, adding it was conducting analysis for further details. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported North Korea may have launched several missiles from an area on its east coast, citing a Japanese government source. The launch may have failed, Japan's Kyodo news agency said.....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

Transparency in the matters of budgetary measures, large project agreements, public procurement and spending, and defence budget is an imperative for good governance and effective public financial management (PFM). Policy Research Institute (PRI) came up with this suggestion Tuesday at a joint meet with economic reporters, as it noted that information holdback in such matters of high national importance does affect country's international ranking. Although Bangladesh has improved PFM with a number of initiatives of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and introduced integrated budget and accounting system (IBAS) to maintain data, it is still in the middle category in terms of disclosure of information, said Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the PRI. "In open budget index (OBI), prepared by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), Bangladesh is classified under country category C3, which is the middle category ranging between C1 and C5," Dr Mansur said at a media workshop on 'Fiscal transparency in Bangladesh' organised by PRI and Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) in the PRI conference room in the city. The C3 category means Bangladesh publishes some budget information, but not enough to ensure an informed public debate. Its OBI score improved from 42 in 2008 to 56 in 2015 (C3 category is a score between 41 and 60). Dr Mansur said Bangladesh can improve its ranking if it gives some efforts on this. He presented a keynote paper at the workshop with detailed picture and recommendations on fiscal transparency in Bangladesh. The PRI also submitted the keynote to the ministry of finance, which is about to get down to crafting the next national budget. According to the latest 2015 Fiscal Transparency Report of the US State Department, Bangladesh did not meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency and it did not make significant progress either towards meeting the minimum requirements. "Information on earnings from state-owned enterprises is included in supplementary budget documents. However information on allocations to state-owned enterprises is not clearly presented and discussed in the budget," Dr Mansur told the meet.  He thinks Bangladesh can make significant development in Financial Transparency (FT) over the next five to 10 years if it follows code of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The four pillars of the IMF code and manual used to determine Bangladesh's fiscal transparency are: clarity of roles and responsibilities defining the fiscal regimes and associated level of fiscal reporting, open budget process, public availability of information and quality of such information and assurance of integrity. "We need to shift the system from narrow central government to local and then to general government," he said about the dos. Dr Mansur also pointed out government's asset management as a major problem as it does not have any data on its property. Further listing the missing factors in financial transparency, the policy researcher said government subsidies to most of the state-owned corporations are not explicitly recorded. The government does not prepare balance sheet. So, some unfunded liabilities, including defence budget, are not transparent in Bangladesh compared to that of neighbouring India, he said. Dr Mansur stressed the need for quarterly GDP (gross domestic product) and annual release of some vital statistics including employment and household- expenditure survey. "The government releases the employment and HIES data every three years, which should be reviewed annually," he added. He also criticized "politicization" of those basic economic data and suggested following a technology-based accepted methodology to release those. Dr Mansur also termed the high revenue target as a pressure for tax authority. "The MoF and the NBR should set the revenue target by sitting together. Setting 35 per cent growth for revenue collection is not feasible as average growth for tax collection has been noticed some 17 to 18 per cent in a year," he said. There must be impact analysis of budgetary measures, which is absent here, he noted. "There is also some problem with budget execution process. Budget-management process is not satisfactory although it is under strict control on 5.0 per cent deficit," he added. Process of passing supplementary budget in parliament is like a stamping as it is done after completion of expenditure, he said, adding that expenditure plan of the government should be approved beforehand. The government should maintain transparency on signing contracts with foreign companies. All of the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) of Petrobangla should be available on the website, he said. He advocated that the content of large project agreements of the government, including Roopur, Rampal, and Padma Bridge, and projects with China should be made known to the public. Dr Mansur suggested concerted efforts of the government for medium to long term (five to 10 years) to address the areas. He also recommended removing hurdles to right-to- information regime on the demand side. doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05

Detectives arrested two alleged drug pedlars along with 400 pieces of Yaba tablets in front of Monihar Cinema Hall in the Jessore town on Tuesday. Tipped off, a team of Detective Branch (DB) of police conducted a drive there and arrested Bashar Miah, son of late Manju Miah of Jamdia village and Rasel Pervej, son of Rafiqul Islam of Shukhdeb Nagar Dakkhin Para in Bagharpara upazila of Jessore, in the morning, said Alamgir Hossain, assistant sub-inspector of Jessore DB police. The law enforcers also confiscated 400 Yaba tablets from their possession, reports UNB. A case was filed.....

Published at: 2017-03-22 00:00:05