In a democratic society, people choose their representatives to work for the best interest of the people. But such an attitude hardly prevails in developing countries. In these countries, public institutions, civil society and autonomous bodies don't enjoy freedom at taking their own decisions. Additionally, most of the economic policies taken by policymakers seem to be paying little attention to the welfare of people. An example is the previous year's fiscal and monetary policy of the government.
Bangladesh has a mixed economy. Traditionally, the intervention by the government is common when any organisation goes against public interest. In the free market economy, interference of the government in the private sector is always unwelcome. But some recent economic policies taken by the government went against public interest. Some of these moves include increasing price of oil in 2015 although price of oil globally decreased to as low as $30 a barrel; continuous subsidies for public banks in order to support capital adequacy ratio; banking companies act (amendment)-2018, raising the level of VAT, tax and more. If such erratic policymaking continues, financial inclusion and the achievement of a sustainable development goal are likely to go in vain. Such forms of policy implementation increases income inequality, creates unrest in social activities and increases sufferings of common people. Development of people from across the classes in the society can ensure true, sustainable development for any nation.
Md. Parvez Alam
Department of Finance.
University of Chittagong.
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