Dhaka: Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir on Thursday said: To establish an accountable, transparent, and implementation-oriented development process, the government’s proposed Five-Year strategic economic framework would be a milestone in the country’s planning history.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, speaking at a press briefing after the second meeting of the Advisory Council on the formulation of the strategic economic framework at the NEC Conference Room, emphasized that this initiative is unprecedented in Bangladesh’s recent history. He highlighted that such an inclusive advisory committee for economic strategy formulation has never been formed before.
The government is determined to move away from the ineffective planning culture of the past, where development plans often remained on paper. The meeting, attended by State Minister for Planning Md. Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki as the Special Guest and presided over by Planning Adviser to the Interim Government Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, also included Planning Secretary SM Shakil Akhter and GED Member of the Planning Commission Dr. M Monzur Hossain. Economists, business leaders, academics, and civil society representatives reviewed the draft framework.
Titumir noted the participants appreciated the realistic and participatory nature of the strategy. He mentioned that previous plans effectively became inactive documents from the day after their approval because the strategies and targets were never implemented. He alleged that project selection under the previous administration was influenced by patronage and inflated expenditures, leading to a significant debt burden. The current government is already reviewing many such projects.
The proposed framework introduces structural reforms aimed at public accountability, including chapters on monitoring, evaluation, and inter-ministerial coordination. The adviser addressed the ‘June syndrome’ in public spending, where development work is rushed at the end of the fiscal year. Continuous monitoring mechanisms will be introduced to prevent waste and poor-quality implementation.
He added that the government aims to institutionalize transparency, ensuring researchers and citizens have easier access to official data to verify government claims. The new framework, set for implementation next fiscal year, will change the “programming process” for project selection to ensure they reflect economic rationale rather than patronage.
Titumir stated that the framework aligns with the vision of building a democratic welfare state based on equality and justice. It aims to help Bangladesh become a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 through sector-based strategies and measurable indicators. Ministries were instructed to submit a 180-day action plan, plans for the next fiscal year, and a five-year sectoral strategy, which were combined with recommendations from diverse stakeholders.
The draft will now be sent to the National Steering Committee and the National Economic Council for final approval. In response to questions, Titumir said the government is working to strengthen the Planning Commission to ensure it functions independently. Plans to introduce project dashboards at local levels for real-time monitoring by citizens and to make BBS data more accessible to the public were also mentioned.