The World Bank (WB) has said that If Bangladesh could reduce corruption level to those prevailing In countries with the highest reputation for honest dealing, it could add between 2.1 and 2.9 per cent to annual per capita GDP growth.

This could lower the country's poverty by 25 percentage points.

The draft report titled "Corruption in Bangladesh. Costs and Cures" is the donors' official paper to be discussed at the April 13-14 Paris meeting with the government. Corrup-

tion will be one of the burning topics to be discussed at the development forum meeting this year.

“The Judgement that per capita Income in a corruption-free Bangladesh could have nearly doubled to USS 700 instead of S 350 reflects the harmful impact of bribery, kick-backs and similar under-the-table payments on Investment levels and misallocated resources." the Bank said.

"The broad calculation also suggests the distorting effect of bribery and favouritism on

ffovernment procurement, the ilgher costs of transport due to Illegal tolls collected on the highways, and the out-and-out losses of customs fees or earnings from privatisation when bribes change hands and government revenues drop accordingly."

The report also came down heavily on the political parties and their leaderships. Judiciary. police and bureaucracy for their actions which breed corruption.

The WB termed the corruption In Bangladesh "unafford-

able. unacceptable and treatable" and said, “once the national will Is expressed in a consensus that corruption must be curbed, 11 can also be cured."

As steps to do this, the Bank suggested change in incentives that foster corruption, transparency and accountability In official transactions and establishment of independent oversight over institutions and their operations.

The essential first step is to mobilise political will. "Leaders who understand that they will gain popularity by confronting corruption straightforwardly can not only show themselves responsive to deepening dissatisfaction, they can also enlist respected nongovernmental organisations and independent media in a measured search for feasible solutions”. it said.

“What is needed is not a partisan witch-hunt, but a national debate that succeeds in identifying the most ubiquitous and damaging forms of corruption and the actions that can reduce the magnitude of the problem", the WB observed.

Political parties In Bangladesh tend to be leader centered.’ relatively undemocratic in their organisation and functions and heavily dependent on the self-interested financial support of major business houses and large labour unions, the WB said.

"Both expect their contributions to be repaid either in the form of policy favours or contracts. As labour union members exact tolls in the transport sector, for example, various student unions and youth fronts linked to the parties also collect extensive tolls from business houses, retail shops, and public works activities on campus and off."

Not only are spending ceilings routinely Ignored in elections, many observers allege that parties violate the Election Commission's code of conduct by funding local development projects and Indirectly buying votes from touts who promise to deliver their followers.

Such invisible payments appear to absorb 60-70 per cent of election expenses, the report said.

As for law enforcement, the report said the public at large has grown fearful and suspicious of police, seeing them as predators, not protectors. Poor career prospects and below-subsistence salary levels induce many police officials to become corrupt.

Regarding business transactions and corruption, the report said the business community in Bangladesh confronts numerous costly government-imposed rules and obstacles that encourage corruption. Low-level officials can extort payoffs from businesses because the rules are opaque and give them significant discretion. As a result. even regulations with valid Justification are circumvented and the system discourages investment.

With official procurement amounting to about US$ 3 billion per year and bribes to win such contracts allegedly running to 10-15 per cent of their value, the public treasury could be losing between USS300 million ana $450 million a year, the WB estimated.

It suggested that reducing the role of government in the economy would shrink opportunities for bribes.

The WB said that the government should ensure that the banks are insulated from political interference, particularly in the appointment of management and boards of NCBs.

"Corruption that involves large-scale contracts, award of concessions, and operation and privatisation of public firms rob Bangladesh of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Extensive corruption, political influence and pressure from trade unions reportedly operate within various organisations. Officials at all levels arc tempted to take advantage of weak institutional capacity to collude with private sector bidders and contractors, amassing vast illegal Incomes in the bar-gain."

"Other areas of “grand" corruption that now appear to be particularly Important in Bangladesh are awarding concessions to develop the country's natural gas resources, contracts to produce electric power and large-scale contracts particularly for military hardware."

Major business firms fund political parties on a large scale, mainly in the expectation of influencing policy decisions in their favour or getting large contracts. Non-transparent and non-accountable governance allows political leaders to sell favour to private parties and enables kickbacks from contracts that feed back into party coffers, creating a vicious cycle of insider deals, the World Bank said.

Recognising that either of the two main parties could come to power, most large business houses hedge against future sanctions by contributing to both the ruling party and the opposition.

Criticising the judiciary, the WB said several decades of neglect has crippled the legal and Judicial system in Bangladesh. Among the factors responsible for lack of transparency and accountability in the Judicial system Is an antiquated and rudimentary administrative structure that undermines the ability of the judicial branch to manage and plan its affairs. It is difficult to uphold the existing code of conduct for Judges when salaries range from about $100 per month for an Assistant Judge to $ 400 per month for the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.

Indecisiveness on the part of the political leadership, politicisation of the civil service through introduction of political cadres,' pervasive corruption and nepotism among civil servants, and the silence of civil society on this score can all be faulted, the Bank observed.

Lower-level civil servants, afraid of change and fearful of loosing their jobs, have been taught by their political leaders that strikes and agitation reap rewards and have used the tactic very effectively to frighten various governments into inaction.