Freedom is a word that is highly deserving and highly cherishable. Freedom is of different kinds (political, economic, religious and etc.). Like political freedom, economic freedom is very important in a state or a society. It refers to freedom of profession or occupation, equality of opportunity in public employment, rights to property, labour freedom, monetary freedom, investment freedom, business freedom, rule of law, fiscal freedom, freedom from corruption, etc. The economic freedom has been recognised by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also by the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Article 40 of the Bangladesh constitution states, "Subject to any restrictions imposed by law, every citizen possessing such qualifications, if any, as may be prescribed by law in relation to his profession, occupation, trade or business shall have the right to enter upon any lawful profession or occupation, and to conduct any lawful trade or business". The constitution also guarantees the right to protection of law, protection of right to life and personal liberty, protection of home and correspondence, freedom of movement, prohibition of forced labour and rights to property. All these rights and freedom constitute economic freedom.
Bangladesh like many other developing countries suffers from deficiency in economic freedom whether in normal or abnormal situation. In different phases of history, the country suffered from this owing to political turmoil and natural disasters as it is suffering now. They economy is losing billions of Taka (presently Tk. 25 billion to Tk. 30 billion) everyday. Both domestic and external economies are suffering. They farmers, the fishery and poultry farms and the importers can not supply the products and the merchandises. The hawkers, the small traders and the shopkeepers can not run their businesses due to hartals and blockades. The daily workers are constrained to earn their livelihood. The exporters can not ship their products timely and cost-effectively. There is cancellation of orders. Transport system is shattered. Costs of transport has become high. The lives of drivers and helpers are at stake. Office-goers suffer from tension and uncertainty. All these infringe rights to life, property and personal liberty and thereby impact economic freedom. The political crisis and the economic freedom are, therefore, negatively correlated. The more is political crisis the less is economic freedom.
In normal situation too, economic freedom has been found to be constrained. Safety of life and property is found inadequate during normal time. There were media reports before the present political turmoil that about 200 trucks and covered vans were subject to hijacking every month on Dhaka-Chittagong highway with casualties to some drivers and helpers. Besides, there were scandals (like Hallmark and Basic Bank) in the banking sector. Non-performing loans are getting high. There are cases of over- and under-invoicing. There are reports of rampant extortion. Inadequate supply of gas and electricity discourages investment. Cost of doing business, therefore, goes high.
There are some international institutions which work on various indices to see the cost of doing business, cities favourable for business, economic freedom, etc. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal released results of an international survey on economic freedom on January 28, 2015 covering 186 countries. The index evaluates countries on ten freedoms like property rights, trade freedom, investment freedom, monetary freedom, labour freedom, government spending and freedom from corruption. The survey placed Bangladesh at the 31st position in ranking for the year 2015. It had the same ranking in 2014. Earlier, the index of economic freedom placed Bangladesh at the 130th position in 2012 and 132nd in 2013. Bangladesh position remains unchanged at 27 among 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The economic freedom score of Bangladesh is 53.9 connoting 'mostly unfree" meaning combined scores of 50-59.9. The grading in the index shows the freest category scoring 80 points or higher, mostly free countries scoring 70-79.9 points, moderately free countries scoring 60-69.9 points, mostly unfree countries scoring 50-59.9 points and repressed category scoring below 50 points.
The survey has revealed some information which should be taken into cognisance by the concerned quarters. The report observes that government effectiveness is undermined by pervasive graft. Contract enforcement and dispute settlement procedures are inadequate. There are poor governance, institutional deficiencies, poor access to credit, underdeveloped labour market, ineffective enforcement of labour rules, relatively high tariffs, and antiquated real property laws and record-keeping systems. Poor governance has been identified as the serious barrier to foreign direct investment. Public debt has been found to be increasing equal to about 40 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product). Stock market capitalisation has been found to be low. The country's tax revenue remains low at around 10 per cent of GDP. The survey further found lack of consensus on the future policy changes and disregard for the rule of law in Bangladesh. Given these deficiencies in economic freedom, Bangladesh might find it difficult to sustain its present level of high growth rates.
Statistically, it has been found that countries with higher levels of economic freedom can outperform others in socio-economic progress. Bangladesh should endeavour to improve all indicators contained in the index of economic freedom. A broad-based outlook is required for political stability, good governance, reforms in the financial and fiscal sectors, establishment of the rule of law, curbing corruption, improvement of the labour market, independent judiciary and safety and security of life and property of citizens. A truly democratic government can deliver these services to the nation.
The writer is an economist and columnist.
chowdhuryjafar@ymail.com
Achieving a higher level of economic freedom
Jafar Ahmed Chowdhury | Published: February 15, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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