Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, finance and planning adviser to the prime minister, has announced a departure from traditional development planning toward a functional, accountable, and realistic framework.
He stated that past development plans often became ineffective even before their implementation. The new five-year economic strategy paper will be centered on reform, implementation, and accountability.
These remarks were made during a press briefing following the second meeting of the Advisory Committee on the preparation of the economic strategy paper, organized by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Bangladesh Planning Commission. The meeting included economists, business representatives, researchers, and government officials.
Issues with past planning
Titumir highlighted that the primary problem with previous plans was their lack of connection to implementation. Targets and commitments were rarely reflected in practice, causing plan documents to become administrative formalities rather than “living policy papers”.
Experts at the meeting noted that these plans essentially became “dead documents” the day after they were adopted.
Structural flaws were identified at every level, including project selection, monitoring, and evaluation. He cited political patronage in project selection, delays in appointing project directors, and frequent cost and time revisions as reasons the planning system lost public trust.
“Rubber stamp” commission and June syndrome
The finance adviser criticized the Planning Commission’s historical role, stating it had become a “rubber stamp” institution. Instead of analyzing economic logic or public interest, it often merely formalized approvals for projects created by ministries. He also pointed to the “June Syndrome” the practice of suddenly increasing spending in the final month of the fiscal year—as a trend that rendered the planning system ineffective.
New strategic framework for reform
The government’s new “Five Year Strategic Framework for Reform and Development” introduces four major reform chapters:
Restructuring Project Selection: The programming process is being reorganized to ensure projects align with the public mandate, are economically justified, and are feasible.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Regular monitoring will be used to track progress and stop the “June Syndrome” through strict oversight.
Free Flow of Information: The government aims to end the “culture of secrecy” by making data accessible to researchers, teachers, students, and the general public to verify project realities.
Participatory Accountability: The process will be made participatory, including the creation of local-level project dashboards so citizens can monitor progress directly.
Foundations and economic goals
The new framework is based on the election manifesto and the public mandate, which Titumir argues was missing in previous, non-elected governments. The strategy is built on five primary commitments:
Reform of the state system.
Non-discriminatory socio-economic development.
Recovery of the fragile economy.
Regional equality.
Social harmony.
To achieve these, ministries have been asked to provide three types of plans: a 180-day action plan, a plan for the next fiscal year, and a five-year plan. The framework sets an ambitious target for Bangladesh to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2034.
Science-based evaluations for major projects
Regarding large-scale projects like the Padma Barrage, Titumir stated that they are now being evaluated through a science-based approach. This includes considering water flow, river depth, environmental impact, and agricultural production. Past studies are being re-evaluated to ensure every major project possesses economic logic and serves the public interest.
