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Kibria rebuts Saifur's remark on AL's handling of economy

UNB, Dhaka
Former finance minister Shah A M S Kibria has identified the deteriorating law and order situation and the loss of donors' confidence in the government as the main problems for his successor Saifur Rahman.
"When a donor country publicly accuses a minister of corruption and cancels economic aid, it is a crisis of confidence that the government cannot avoid," he told UNB, giving his views on the state of economy.
Kibria said extortion by ruling party activists has reached an alarming state paralysing the business activity and investors are unlikely to risk their money in such a situation.
"Balancing the budget is necessary, but it alone would neither bring dynamism into the economy nor restore the confidence of the business community," he said.
In such a situation, Kibria advised his successor, to try to address the basic economic and political issues instead of generating bitterness and tension by his tirades against the opposition.
Kibria's remarks came on the heels of Saifur's observations at a
budget consultation with his predecessors on May 4 that Awami League managed the economy badly leading to huge budget deficit and left a fragile economy.
Kibria said he was worried seeing that government borrowing sharply increased despite drastic cut in the ADP. "I'm concerned to know that there has been an unusual rise in borrowing from the Bangladesh Bank," he said, apprehending that borrowing from the central bank would generate inflationary pressure.
Replying to the reference of his name in the "White Paper" in connection with rescheduling of loan, Kibria recalled some decisions might have been taken at that time by the banking division to help the jute traders overcome losses. But the idea of "my helping any individual trader is not only a figment of someone's fertile imagination, but a preposterous lie," Kibria said.
Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman, while discussing budget issues with ex-finance ministers and bureaucrats on May 4, noted that budget deficit would amount to as high as Tk 40,000 crore and interest payment for domestic borrowing would eat up over 23 per cent of the total revenue expenditures.
Budge deficit, he feared, would go up to 8 per cent of the GDP at the end of the fiscal year.
Kibria has said budget deficit could be tamed in next two to three years and the 2001-02 budget framed by the Awami League government had that vision.