The outgoing interim government has published a book titled ‘Reform Book’ with brief descriptions of the key reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government since August 2024. The primary goals of the interim government of Dr Mohummad Yunus were threefold: justice, reform, and election as claimed by one of the advisors. These reforms were carried out through ordinances and some policies. There was no amendment of constitution.
A total of 133 ordinances were drafted and issued. Among these, 14 were related to changing the names of various institutions. Almost all the remaining 119 ordinances were reform oriented. Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister on 15 March proposed in the House that 133 ordinances be sent to a special parliamentary committee for scrutiny. Some of the laws were much discussed and long pending demands, such as: Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance, 2025; Public Procurement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Bank Resolution Ordinance, 2025; Cyber Security Ordinance, 2025; National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025; Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025; Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025; Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance, 2025; Forest and Tree Conservation Ordinance, 2026; Bangladesh Haor and Wetlands Conservation Ordinance, 2026; Land Use Control and Agricultural Land Protection Ordinance, 2026.
Some ordinances were promulgated to remove elected representatives from district, upazila, city corporation, and municipal bodies and appoint alternative administrators, two ordinances related to revoking security arrangements for the Sheikh family and placing the caretaker government’s chief adviser under SSF security, one ordinance removed Sheikh Hasina’s name from the National Youth Development Institute, one ordinance aimed to remove and appoint WASA Managing Director, one ordinance increased the retirement age of Bangladesh Bank Governor, one ordinance set the maximum age for government service entry at 32, and the others included the Indemnity Law and ordinances repealing provisions for fuel price adjustment without public hearing. Ordinance repealing provisions that allowed fuel pricing without public hearing is surprising.
To ensure the independence of the judiciary, government has enacted some important laws. Through the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, 2025, the creation of judicial posts, development of the judiciary, and budget management authority have been entrusted to the Supreme Court Secretariat under the control of the Chief Justice. The authority to control (transfer, promotion, discipline) lower court judges will also be vested in the Supreme Court. Government by this time establishes a Supreme Judicial Appointment Council chaired by the Chief Justice to ensure transparent, merit-based appointments to the higher judiciary. Some new specialised courts have been established through legal reforms. A separate court is being established for trying child rape offences as per The Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance to provide swift and accurate trial of rape and other crimes, and. Independent commercial courts have been established to resolve commercial disputes quickly and without harassment, through the Commercial Court Ordinance.
Interim government establishes specialised Commercial Courts in Bangladesh to ensure the speedy and efficient resolution of commercial disputes of a specified value (minimum BDT50 lakh), thereby promoting investment, supporting economic growth, and enhancing the business environment. This was one of the indices of ease of doing business assessed by World Bank. The Ordinance provides for pre-institution mediation, dedicated commercial benches, fast-track procedures, appellate mechanisms, and data transparency. The Revenue Policy and Revenue Management Ordinance to facilitate the restructuring and splitting of the Revenue authority into two separate entities: the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Administration Division. The ordinance has yet to be implemented. The new Public Procurement ordinance will make the use of the e-Government Procurement (e-GP) portal mandatory for all public procurement, aiming to increase transparency and efficiency reduction of corruption. This new law will also help to curb project cost overruns and avoid price manipulation during implementation.
Interim government has made Taka ‘convertible’ mean freely traded through market mechanism, but Bangladesh bank continued to purchase dollar from the market. The intervention of BB of bought over $2 billion in foreign currency in the July-November period of 2025. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described the system as ‘incomplete’. Default loans are a major problem of our banking sector and management of non-performing assets (NPA) is a challenge for the nation, A Distressed Asset Management Ordinance (DAMO) has been drafted but interim government could not promulgate the ordinance. Reforms in the banking sector, such as reconstituting bank boards and initiating forensic audits, particularly in troubled Islamic banks, were the most visible actions of the interim government. The Bank Resolution Act and Bank Deposit Protection Ordinance – were enacted but the reforms of Bangladesh Bank and Banking companies act remains pending for the elected government.
Another landmark ordinance The Microfinance Bank Ordinance, 2026 for establishment of Microfinance Bank replacing microfinance programs of NGOs. The bank is to be developed as a ‘social business’ institution in which personal profit and dividends will have to be reinvested in social and poverty alleviation activities. Borrowers to hold a 60 percent ownership stake in the new Microfinance Bank.
The 2025 Amendment of the Overseas Employment and Migrants Rules is to strengthen the legal framework for overseas employment by requiring sub-agents to be licensed and held accountable, thereby curbing fraud, protecting migrant workers, and potentially reducing the region’s highest migration costs. The Merchant Power Policy (MPP) in Bangladesh shifts the power sector by allowing private sector players to sell electricity directly to distributors or buyers, rather than solely to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB). The sector will hopefully be competitive and efficient. A draft of the Domestic Violence Prevention Ordinance 2026 and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Ordinance 2026 received final approval at the meeting but not promulgated the Ordinances. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has been granted full autonomy to report economic data. This will hopefully facilitate on time and authentic data from the department without interference of the government.
The end of the tenure interim government has signed a free trade agreement with Japan and reciprocal trade agreement with USA. The FTA with Japan is a landmark agreement. They have promised several trade facilitation reforms and the responsibility is to fall on new elected government to amend many trade laws for trade facilitation. This is a priority to step forward some other FTAs with some countries and join any trade block like RCEP. Interim government also signed port management agreement with some reputed port company.
The interim government succeeded in preventing a deeper economic and geopolitical slide during a highly volatile period. People had more expectations from the interim government of Dr Yunus. Some of them are looking at reform agendas and others for free and fair elections. The success of the government was slowed due to pressure of quick elections and exit. It was a challenge for them to give due attention to reforms programmes.
(The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author)
The writer is the CEO, Bangla Chemical & Legal Economist. E-mail: [email protected]
