Data manipulation under Hasina won't affect LDC graduation: Prof Raihan
Professor Selim Raihan has said the manipulation of key economic data over the last decade under Sheikh Hasina's regime will not impact Bangladesh's graduation from least developed country (LDC) status by 2026.
"In the past decade or so, we witnessed significant manipulation of critical data, including national accounts and social progress indicators," he said during a working session titled "Bangladesh's LDC Graduation Journey: Exploring Prospects for Regional Collaboration" at an international seminar today.
Referring to the White Paper on the state of the economy published earlier this month, the noted economist said, "Even if we consider these manipulations, they will not affect Bangladesh's LDC graduation. Bangladesh is already well ahead of, or far below, the thresholds related to economic vulnerability."
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He said Bangladesh is well ahead of the threshold in terms of the human asset index, and its vulnerability is below the threshold. In terms of per capita income, Bangladesh is also well above the threshold.
"So, the graduation is now very much obvious. There is no way Bangladesh can avoid it," he said, adding, however, that there are some requests from the business community and other stakeholders asking whether the 2026 graduation date could be reconsidered.
Raihan, who is also the executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (Sanem), a private research organisation, said, "I believe there are still one or two years to go, and I'm confident there will be many discussions.
"And there is evidence in the past that some countries requested to shift or to delay the process. I am not ruling out that possibility. I'm not ruling out that possibility," added the economics professor at the Dhaka University.
The seminar, titled "Reconnecting the Bay of Bengal Region: Exploring the Convergence of Interests," was jointly organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies and the Institute of Developing Economies, with sponsorship from the Japanese embassy.
