The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has said that the environment of a participatory election must be ensured to restore the confidence in the investment. “The country won’t get rid of the prevailing economic concerns unless it gets back on a participatory electoral process”, said the CPD.
The think-tank also said that the ongoing non-economic concerns like abduction and killing would also affect the investors’ confidence, which will force them to shelve their investment plans.
The CPD said these at a press conference at its budget recommendations for fiscal 2014-15 at BRAC Centre in the city on Sunday. It made the observations after analysing the post-poll economic indicators, which it found are on a declining trend.
CPD fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya and its executive director Prof Mustafizur Rahman addressed the press conference while research director of the CPD Dr Fahmida Khatun presented a keynote paper on the overall economy of the country. Dr Debapriya said, “Concerns in the economy will not be removed unless the country gets back on participatory electoral process. Atmosphere of a participatory election has to be ensured for the interest of the country’s economy.” He also said that the government should frame a pragmatic budget for the next fiscal year.
Dr Mustafizur Rahman said that the recent incidents of killing, abduction and forced disappearance are also obstacle for the investment. Deterioration of law and order situation caused decline in domestic demand, lower investment, decelerated trade activities and escalating social cost, he added.
Fahmida Khatun said that the positive environment for economy and the confidence in investment did not restore even after the Januray-5 election. “Revenue collection is below the target this year while investment in the private sector has also decreased. The income in remittance has fallen while income also did not increased in the export sector in the current fiscal year,” she said. Dr Debapriya mentioned three reasons for not increasing investment. These are – uncertainty in the political arena, non-confidence of the people in their assets and the lack of personal security. If the situation is continued, the money of the country will go abroad while government will face difficulty in implementing the next budget, he apprehended.
