Bangladesh’s future: Insights from the World Bank
On May 6th , the Department of Economics and Social Sciences (ESS) hosted an illuminating event titled “Bangladesh Development Update: Enabling Business Environment that Delivers Jobs”, by Dr Dhruv Sharma (Senior Economist, World Bank). The event was graced by prominent figures such as Nazmus Sadat Khan (Senior Economist, World Bank), Sharmin Akhter Jahan (Consultant, World Bank), Mehrin A. Mahbub (Senior External Affairs Officer, World Bank), along with Professor Wasiqur Rahman Khan (Chairperson, ESS), Dr Salma Begum (Associate Professor, ESS) and other faculty members and students.
Dr Sharma completed his doctoral studies at the University of Sydney, Australia and currently advises the Indian Government on macro-fiscal policies.
The event was inaugurated by Professor Khan. In the seminar, Dr Sharma presented a diagnosis of Bangladesh’s current development trajectory, emphasising the urgency of overcoming economic and institutional challenges, connecting with students. He explained that Bangladesh has limited buffers and policy space to absorb the prolonged economic shocks, due to high supply-side inflationary pressures.
Moreover, there was a discussion on the banking sector and the uncertain business environment. Lastly, he mentioned the specific recommendations in the World Bank’s publicly available report.
The seminar concluded with a question-and-answer session that intrigued both faculty members and students. As Nuzhat Nuery Hossain (Senior, ESS) stated, “It was very exciting to see people from a global organisation lay out their observations on Bangladesh, compared to similar economies.” Associate Professor Begum remarked, “This offered a crucial, quick overview for Economics majors, and most importantly, it is relevant to what the students are currently learning.”
