Cleaning the Augean stable of data distortions

FE Team | Published: March 31, 2026 21:33:04

The organisation that collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on socio-economic, demographic and environmental issues actually functions as the brain trust of a government. From that point of view, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) should have been able to play that critical role professionally for the successive governments in the past. But, on the contrary, it was made to manipulate statistics on important development indicators in the past and thereby has left behind a distorted economy. In this connection, alluding to how various data and the size of the economy were misrepresented during the previous Awami League regime, the prime minister's finance and planning adviser reportedly said at a recent meeting that the present government had begun a sweeping correction of the economic data that were subjected to years of distortion. It's definitely a welcome move long time coming as, reportedly, initiated by the incumbent elected government.
In fact, the past Awami League government between 2009 and 2024 systematically inflated Bangladesh's economic growth and macroeconomic indicators with the help of BBS to project a development fairy tale. Evidence from a white paper prepared by the immediate past interim government and reports from various economists indicate that the macroeconomic data including GDP, inflation and poverty statistics were manipulated to align with its political narratives. For instance, during that government, the annual GDP growth was consistently reported to be between 6.0 and 7.0 per cent. However, studies show that during 2009-2019, the actual growth rate was closer to 4.2 per cent. That means, the GDP growth figure was inflated by 2.8 percentage points every year. Similarly, through an investigation carried out in 2024, the Bangladesh Bank (BB), found that the export figures for FY2023-24 were overstated by approximately US$10 billion.
The inflation data, on the other hand, were deflated showing those at lower than actual level at different times of the past AL government. A local economic think tank, for example, in January 2022, estimated the food inflation to be over 11 per cent, whereas the BBS reported that it ranged approximately between 5.0 and 6.0 per cent. True, the BBS during that time was under political pressure to do their bidding. But one wonders why at least one of those eminently qualified experts working there could not demonstrate professional integrity and stand down in protest against such political arm-twisting? Clearly, the BBS in the past proved itself to be too inclined to bow to any political pressure from above. So, it is important to ensure that in the future, too, the state's statistical agency might not compromise accuracy of data under any circumstances. No businesses whether local or foreign can plan their investment unless they get a clear picture of the economy.
Evidently, the present government has taken upon itself a hugely challenging task of cleaning the Augean stable of data distortion left behind by the previous political government. The Dr Yunus-led interim government did take some significant steps to restructure the BBS in order to ensure its autonomy as well as improve its data credibility. But what is necessary is to turn BBS into a fully independent constitutional body free from any political influence. Clearly, the challenge is enormous before the incumbent BNP government. The task has to be done dispassionately, if necessary, by enacting a law for the purpose. Evidently, the government is going to speed up its paces in the task. Hopefully, going by its pledges, it rises equal to the task.