Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz has published an edited volume on the ongoing economic crisis in Bangladesh in Bengali. The book is titled The Plundered Future: The Realities of the Bangladesh’s Economic Crisis. The compilation highlights five sectors that the authors insist have contributed to the crisis: the banking sector, energy sector, mega projects in infrastructure sector, foreign borrowing, and capital flight.
Riaz, in his introduction argues that as opposed to the government’s claim that the crisis has emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis, the government’s economic policies have engendered the crisis. He described the crisis as “a slow burn” rather than “sudden” catastrophe.
He underscores that a non-inclusive and unaccountable system of governance since 2013 created the problems, and the pandemic and the Ukraine War only accelerated the process. Other contributors of the volume are Shawkat Hossain, Ismail Ali, Zia Hasan and Tarique Choyon. Riaz contributed a chapter on the infrastructure development projects and their impacts on the economy.
The book is published by Prothoma Prokashoni of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
