WB concerned over governance, graft
Patel says economic performance satisfactory
Staff Correspondent
Visiting World Bank Vice President for South Asia Praful C Patel yesterday appreciated the country's economic performance but expressed concerns at the slow pace of progress in addressing governance and corruption issues."We are all very concerned about the level of corruption. We will be discussing more specifically on this," Patel told reporters after a marathon 150-minute meeting with Finance Minister Saifur Rahman. Though an anti-corruption commission (ACC) has been set up, it is still busy with internal organisation, Patel observed, adding, "It is very important [for the ACC] to move on to the next step, start taking corruption cases and deal with them." He expressed the hope that he would see the ACC "move faster" soon. Saifur agreed with Patel about the lack of progress made in governance and curbing graft, saying, "If we could progress further in governance, our GDP growth rate would exceed 6 percent." He said the government is working towards that end, but it is not possible to achieve the goal overnight. About the ACC, the minister repeated his pet simile, "The ACC is but newly born. A newborn baby needs some time to learn walking. It is the same with the ACC. These problems will clear out and it will start functioning soon." While the WB VP accepted that it is difficult to institute good governance and eliminate corruption, he said, "We feel that moving in the right direction is absolutely critical if the economic performance is to be maintained." About the next general elections, especially reforms of electoral laws, Patel said it is a concern not only of the World Bank and the donors but also of the people and the government of Bangladesh. He termed the 5.5 percent GDP growth rate reasonably well, but pointed out, "It is very important not to take this growth rate for granted, because it requires continuous efforts to pursue policy reform agenda" to maintain. He praised the government's reform initiatives in some sectors like power and energy, and emphasised continuing with the reform agenda consistently. Referring to the current dollar crisis in the country, Patel said, "Some pressures on the exchange rate are being seen. We have discussed it with the finance minister and he explained to us that he is very much on top of it, very concerned about it." During his four-day official tour, Patel will have a series of meeting with a number of ministries and the donor groups. He will also visit a project on HIV-Aids and a shelter for destitute children funded by the WB.
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