Bangladesh's economy stands on a solid foundation, said the information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud. He said, 'Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader and BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi are educated people. What should I say to those politicians who are educated but do not read the economic index?'
Recently, the world-renowned research and news organization Bloomberg is publishing the risk index of different countries of the world. There are many big countries in the list of 25 countries, but the name of Bangladesh is not there. Mentioning that, the minister said, 'don't all these politicians read these news? All the statements they are making without reading proper information are tantamount to spreading rumors. I hope that educated people do not talk like uneducated people.”
The minister spoke about Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader's statement 'Bangladesh could be Sri Lanka' and BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi's statement 'Bangladesh Bank's reserve is now at an all-time low' during a press conference at S Rahman Hall of Chittagong Press Club on Friday afternoon.
He said that foreign debt up to 45 percent of the country's GDP is safe. At that point our external debt is only 16 percent of GDP and in contrast interest expenditure is only 2 percent of GDP. And government debt can be taken up to 55 percent of GDP. In that place our debt is only 36 percent. So the country's economy is strong.'
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are not the same. Dr Hasan said that Bangladesh has never been late in repaying any installment of foreign debt till date, Bangladesh's position is at the top among developing countries in terms of repayment of loans on time.
He said Bangladesh stands on an economically strong foundation. That is why the data collected by the international media such as Bloomberg, despite the names of many countries including Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, Mexico, Morocco, Bangladesh is not there. I would tell our politicians who are talking about this to do some studying, the minister added.
In response to BNP Secretary General's negative comments on the rule of law, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said, BNP does not obey the court's verdict. It was BNP advocates who kicked the door of the Chief Justice in the court i.e. the main court of the country. They do not respect the law-courts, they give the law a thumbs up. And because there is rule of law in the country, Awami League parliamentarians have to go to jail by court verdict, Awami League leaders are tried.
In response to a question about whether BNP will not go to Election Commission dialogue with political parties, the Information Minister said, 'BNP is afraid of elections. Hopefully, their good intellect will emerge, they will go to the EC dialogue. Go there and tell them if they have objections.'
Earlier, Dr Hasan Mahmud cut the cake on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of satellite television ATN Bangla. Chittagong Bureau Chief of ATN Bangla and Chittagong Press Club President Ali Abbas and various media representatives were present on the occasion.
