The
Independent Review of Bangladesh's
Development (IRBD) 2000 is the
fifth of series which was launched
in 1995 when the Centre for Policy
Dialogue (CPD) pioneered an
annual review of the state of
Bangladesh development. The
IRBD exercise has by now established
itself as one of the principal
sources of reliable data and
quality analysis pertaining
to critical developmental issues
in Bangladesh. The IRBD volumes
demonstrate a unique effort
by independent professionals
to establish the fact that the
civil society in Bangladesh
is capable of assuming the responsibility,
on a continuing basis, for holding
policy-makers accountable for
the stewardship of the development
process.
The current volume, Changes and
Challenges, undertakes a comprehensive
review of the state of the economy
during FY2000, and puts under
scrutiny major policy initiatives,
growth dynamics and recent trends
in the Bangladesh economy. IRBD2000
analyses macroeconomic performance
in its major dimensions and
also deals with other developments,
particularly the External Sector
and in Agriculture during the
fiscal year 2000.
In addition to examining the
current performance of the Bangladesh
economy, IRBD2000 also contains
focused analyses of the country's
emerging developmental challenges.
Thus, the volume also deals
with a select set of issues
of strategic importance for
the future development of Bangladesh.
These issues include the State
of Governance, Rethinking Anti-Poverty,
Development of the Gas Sector
and Power Sector Restructuring.
An important inclusion in the
present IRBD is the Dialogue
Reports which capture the perspectives
of the major stakeholders articulated
during the four national dialogues
organised by the CPD to discuss
the drafts of the various chapters
presented in the IRBD2000.
Another new feature of the current
volume is the Chronology of
Economic Events which highlights
major developments in the economic
life of Bangladesh during the
years 1999 and 2000.This section
is expected to be of particular
interest to the readers.
Contents
PART-A
MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN
FY 2000
Chapter 1
BANGLADESH ECONOMY IN FY 2000:
MACRO ECONOMIC
OUTLOOK
Debapriya Bhattacharya
Chapter 2
PERFORMANCE OF THE EXTERNAL
SECTOR IN FY2000:
GROWTH DYNAMICS AND EMERGENT
CONCERNS
Mustafizur Rahman
Chapter 3
RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURAL
CHANGES IN
BANGLADESH AGRICULTURE: ISSUES
FOR REVIEWING
STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
Mahabub Hossain
Chapter 4
THE STATE OF GOVERNANCE IN BANGLADESH
Rehman Sobhan
Chapter 5
RETHINKING ANTI-POVERTY
Binayak Sen
Chapter 6
DEVELOPMENT OF GAS SECTOR IN
BANGLADESH:
STATUS, POLICY OPTIONS AND CHALLENGES
Azim Uddin Ahmed
Chapter 7
POWER SECTOR RESTRUCTURING IN
BANGLADESH
Nuruddin Mahmud Kamal
Report 1 State of the
Economy and Budget Responses
2000
Report 2 State of Governance
and Budget Response 2000
Report 3 Agriculture
at the Crossroads: Current Challenges
Report 4 Restructuring
the Energy Sector: Current Issues
Major Economic Events: 1999
Major Economic Events: 2000
