Dhaka:Bangladesh must undertake substantial economic and institutional reforms during the next three years to ensure a smooth, sustainable, and irreversible graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category, experts said today.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the observations came at a media dialogue titled "Bangladesh's LDC Graduation The UNGA Decision and Our Observations" organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
The United Nations General Assembly's decision to extend Bangladesh's LDC preparatory period by three years is seen as an opportunity to address structural economic weaknesses. However, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya cautioned that this should not be viewed as a relaxation of reform requirements, emphasizing the UN Committee for Development Policy would not support further extensions.
In 2024, Bangladesh had fulfilled all three LDC graduation criteria, including gross national income per capita, the Human Assets Index, and the Economic Vulnerability Index. The focus now shifts from eligibility to preparedness, highlighting the need for reforms in public financial management, energy, social protection, and logistics.
Dr. Bhattacharya pointed out challenges such as a low tax revenue-to-GDP ratio and high non-performing loans. He recommended stronger political leadership and a whole-of-government approach for implementing the reform agenda, including a shift in coordination to the Prime Minister's Office.
Furthermore, the CPD assessment titled "Tracking LDC Graduation Readiness through Bangladesh Reform Tracker" revealed that none of the 23 monitored reform proposals had reached the action implementation stage. The assessment stressed the need for Bangladesh to expedite negotiations and implementation of trade arrangements with major partners.
The experts concluded that the next three years would be critical for Bangladesh to strengthen its economic resilience and ensure that LDC graduation does not undermine its export competitiveness, investment prospects, and development gains.