Mustafizur Rahman

Dr Mustafizur Rahman is Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

A wrong signal is being sent by offering tax amnesty

Bank defaulters or tax evaders receive a number of amnesty and benefits for whitening black money.

6m ago

Time for a cautious approach to managing Bangladesh's external debt

A key factor driving the rising debt-servicing obligations of Bangladesh originates from the country’s middle-income graduation.

7m ago

Reducing income inequality: An agenda in search of actions

Reducing income inequality by taking concrete steps is morally fair and economically justified.

9m ago

Intra-RMG diversification: The next frontier

The highly impressive track record of Bangladesh’s export-oriented readymade garments (e-o RMG) sector is well-known and well-appreciated.

10m ago

The urgent task of restrategising domestic resource mobilisation

Steps must be taken against those who have shifted money and wealth out of the country illegally.

1y ago

Lessons for Bangladesh as a graduating LDC

As per the decision of the UN General Assembly held in November 2021, Bangladesh is set to graduate out of the group of least developed countries (LDCs) on November 24, 2026, about 50 years after it first became a member of this cohort of developing countries in December 1975.

1y ago

How can we maintain imports while reducing pressure on our forex reserve?

Would it be possible to import fuel from Russia?

2y ago

Getting a grip on the Bangladesh development narrative

The celebration of 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence has been a welcome opportunity to revisit and put on the spotlight Bangladesh’s developmental experience over the past five decades,

2y ago
October 24, 2021
October 24, 2021

Proposed revisions in the EU-GSP scheme: Implications for Bangladesh

As is known, the current provisions of the EU’s Generalised System of preferences (EU-GSP) scheme are being revised at present in anticipation of the new scheme to be put in place as of January 1, 2024.

August 11, 2021
August 11, 2021

Should Bangladesh be worried about Vietnam’s apparel performance?

Vietnam has outperformed Bangladesh and emerged as the second-most important exporter of apparel in the global market in 2020. Should Bangladesh be concerned by this? What signals does this transmit for the medium-term prospects of Bangladesh’s export-oriented apparel sector?

April 25, 2021
April 25, 2021

Negotiating CEPAs: The Challenges Ahead

In recent times, the discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships Agreements (CEPAs) has gained considerable traction in Bangladesh. Policymakers and trade officials have mooted the idea of signing CEPAs with a number of Bangladesh’s trading partners.

April 9, 2021
April 9, 2021

Bangladesh-India economic ties: Addressing the next generation of challenges

Over the past decade particularly, the Bangladesh-India bilateral economic relationship has entered a new terrain with the strengthening of traditional ties and foundations being laid to deepen and broaden the partnership in going forward.

November 15, 2020
November 15, 2020

RCEP Agreement: Why it should concern Bangladesh?

With the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Partnerships (RCEP) agreement, the world is witnessing a significant milestone in the global

October 15, 2020
October 15, 2020

TRIPS extension: A window of opportunity for Bangladesh

On October 15-16, 2020, the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the WTO (WTO-TRIPS Council) will be holding an important meeting that has a special interest for the LDCs, in particular for graduating LDCs such as Bangladesh.

March 27, 2020
March 27, 2020

Navigating Covid-19 impacts on Bangladesh’s external sector

The transmission channels through which the emergent global scenario in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic are impacting the increasingly globalising economy of Bangladesh are diverse: export outflows are getting disrupted; import inflows are facing delays;

September 20, 2019
September 20, 2019

Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and its repercussions for RMG

Bangladesh’s LDC graduation, to take effect from 2024, needs to be celebrated as a recognition of the country’s remarkable progress on many fronts over the past years. At the same time, there is no denying the fact that graduation will entail a number of new

June 12, 2019
June 12, 2019

The emerging cracks in our external sector

The robust external sector performance has been a strong pillar on which Bangladesh’s impressive macroeconomic stability and growth of recent years was founded. The strong performance was underwritten by several factors.

March 24, 2018
March 24, 2018

Mapping out a strategy

Bangladesh has become eligible for LDC graduation at the triennial review of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) held in March 2018 by meeting the thresholds for graduation: Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, the Human Assets Index (HAI) and the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI). Bangladesh has been able to satisfy all the three graduation criteria and that also with significant comfort margins.