Home ›› 30 Aug 2021 ›› Editorial
Corruption still remains a stumbling block in our efforts to achieve higher economic growth and earn the reputation of a less corrupt country. Unfortunate as it is, may be Bangladesh has come down a few rungs in the global corruption index, globally we are still perceived as a country where different kinds of illegal activities take place quite openly in public and private organisations. The presence of a robust Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) could hardly strike fear in the hearts of the corrupt elements in society.
The corrupt elements did not even spare the hard pressed owners of large and small and medium scale enterprises when they went to them to collect stimulus packages sanctioned by the government. Reports of asking for bribes by officials in exchange for the disbursement cheques are going around the country. The allegation has come up in great details in a report released by the Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) where it was shown that nearly 29 per cent of businesses of various categories were asked by officials to pay money under the table if they wished to receive disbursement of funds from the government-announced stimulus packages. SANEM surveyed 501 businesses from April to June this year, assisted by the Asia Foundation. It revealed the findings of ‘Covid-19 and Business’ during the fifth phase of the survey.
The surveyors said 32 per cent of those raising bribery allegations are from the SME sector, 43 per cent from medium enterprises and 19 from large businesses. The stimulus package being discussed here was announced by the government in a bid to help businesses to recover from the losses suffered during the pandemic. The proposal of cash incentive to run and restart businesses was hailed by all quarters as an exemplary one needed at such difficult times.
This may be mentioned that Bangladesh announced the highest amount of stimulus for economic recovery during the pandemic. In all, the government has announced 28 stimulus packages worth Tk 1, 35,000 crore. The Bangladesh Bank said 83 per cent of the funds have so far been disbursed, mainly through various banks. Large amounts of the funds were disbursed by different commercial banks, while the rest by different state-owned financial institutes and some by non-government organisations. But, what did not come in banks’ reports are the stories of bribes taken by their officials.
SANEM research reveals that 29% of the beneficiaries had to pay a portion of the money as bribe to the officials for doing their normal duty. This is a blatant example of the level of corruption that exists in transactions in some banks. Among the other important aspects that the survey revealed are the facts that 79 per cent of the applicants did not receive any funds, against only 21 per cent who received the funds. However, mixed reactions regarding the size of the stimulus package have been noticed. In general, 64 per cent of the traders think that the economic recovery has not been satisfactory but 27 per cent termed it moderate. On the other hand, only nine per cent traders think the recovery has been strong.
The SME sector has been worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years. As much as 73 per cent businesses from the SME sector consider the recovery to be weak. Economists and market experts suggest it would be beneficial for the economy as well as for the unemployed workforce if small and medium scale factories were given necessary cash incentive to keep the production wheels rolling.
But, it needs to be said that the government and the anti-corruption watchdogs must look in to the allegations of bribe raised by a reputable organization like SANEM regarding disbursement of the stimulus package aimed at economic recovery. These are serious allegations and the good name of the country is in question here. If we do not want to see the name of Bangladesh at the top part of the corruption index ever again, we must take appropriate steps now.
