Policy Research Institute, a private sector think tank is helping the government how to create such fund by utilizing the BB’s reserves. It has already handed over a concept paper based on how such funds are operating in other countries to the 14-member committee working on the project. It suggested that ‘Bangladesh Sovereign Wealth Fund’ might be initially set up with US$ 5 billion. The government will fix the rate of interest payable to BB’s funds as Finance Minister AMA Muhith said at a function in the city last week.
In our view mega development projects, to work properly, must be planned and implemented efficiently. This seems to be difficult to do as the poorly planned Moghbazar flyover in the city shows. It is being built spending crores of taka of public money only to reroute traffic congestion instead of eliminating it altogether. Such projects are not something desirable. What the city needs are proper sky trains and underground ones such as in Bangkok for mass transport. If we take wrong projects or their cost configurations are misleading, using BB’s funds on such projects will only add to corruption to add to government’s liability to repay bad debt.
Projects like highways and Padma Bridge that we are concerned about can better use such funds. But if their costs have a way of inflating themselves, as costs are artificially kept low by firms to enable them to procure funds for the project in the first place, they are bound to turn a good project into sick project. This gives rise to inordinate amounts of fraud and corruption, but there is no way of knowing it, except by thorough audits later on.
And of course it is precisely this kind of corruption that we are concerned about. Spending public funds inefficiently and giving rise to corruption of all sorts, is criminal offense and using BB’s funds in such risky projects needs effective safeguards against such risks. BB’s funds should be put to better utilization, not wasted in extravagant manner. And it is precisely for this reason that we ask that the reasons for opening the fund for ‘mega project’ be examined thoroughly.
