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Poor power sector holding back growth

WB managing director tells The daily star

Ashfaq Wares Khan with Rejaul Karim Byron
Bangladesh needs to significantly improve its power sector and infrastructure, alongside the ongoing anti-corruption drive, if the country wishes to unleash its growth potential, said World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. who left the country on Thursday following a four-day visit.
In a wide ranging interview with The Daily Star on the eve of her departure, she also said the prospects of long term high prices of energy and food, and climate change are two major challenges
the country must deal with now to stave off future growth setbacks.
Okonjo-Iweala, appointed as the World Bank's managing director in October last year, also said development will be difficult without political stability, and encouraged 'dialogues' in the country for 'getting a democratic process that produces stability'.
In reply to a question on whether reducing corruption is enough for the country to become middle income in the next two decades, she said although a number of developing countries share Bangladesh’s problems with infrastructure, it really does act as a major constraint on growth.
She also pointed to the severe power shortage in the country as a factor that is holding back Bangladesh's industries.
"If you do not solve your problems with the availability of power — your capacity to increase output for manufacturing sector — small and medium enterprises and other industries cannot produce to their potentials," she added.
The second highest WB official was however hopeful that the government's target of doubling the power output to 8,000 megawatts from the current level of 4,500 megawatts will help to push forward the country's manufacturing sector to higher levels of growth.
She also stressed that WB's encouragement for 'clean technologies', such as using clean coal technologies, will help the country bypass the negative effects of industrial development.
"We have been talking to rich countries to help Bangladesh adopt cleaner technologies, either through financial or through technical assistance," said Okonjo-Iweala adding, that will be a significant step tow ards practicingsustainabledevelopment.
Okonjo-Iweala also said Bangladesh needs to adapt to a 'structural shift' to cope with the rising price of energy, w hich she said is unlikely to come down anytime soon according to WB researches.
Along with rising food prices, which she said is also likely to be a long term phenomenon, Bangladesh faces long term policy challenges as well, which also need to be dealt with now.
"Tlie question is how Bangladesh copes with this structural shift. The country must start thinking now, not just short term fire fighting measures like how to import food from India, but to make permanent long term plans, "she explained.
She also identified climate change as a significant challenge to tlie country's development, but was encouraged by the 'rising level of consciousness' on the issue among government officials, the civil society, and the business community.
"If you don't deal with what is needed to mitigate and adapt to the problems right now. you would be losing percentage points from the growth rate, and worse, you would be losinglives." shesaid.
"We are looking at how to help Bangladesh seize the momentum on the global stage for helping it." added the WB managing director, who was also the finance and foreign minister ofher native country Nigeria.
Okonjo-Iweala also said Bangladesh needs to look at strategies, such as better water management programmes, to get insured against climate changes.
She also said tlie government's reform process is a 'beginning', and was hopeful that the population is 'buying into’ the reforms, which the WB says is crucial, and will lead to a 'second generation' of reforms for strengthening governance.