Photo: Collected
Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury believes Bangladesh now deserves more assistance from the United States in return for the way relations between the two countries have advanced and the huge volume of goods Bangladesh is buying from that country.
He made the remarks to journalists on Wednesday after a meeting with officials of the US Treasury Department in Bangkok.
The finance minister said debt management, US assistance and the overall Bangladesh-US relationship were discussed at the meeting. He also held talks with representatives of the US Exim Bank and the country’s aid-related agency.
In his words, ‘We did not get much from the United States in the past. But look at the way the Bangladesh-US relationship has advanced; we are buying a number of aircraft from the United States and importing various goods and commodities including oil and soybean. So additional assistance should come from them for us. They have agreed on this. Now let us see.’
The government’s economic policy is focused on reducing dependence on loans and increasing direct foreign investment and joint investment, the finance minister said.
Noting that there had been long discussions with the US Exim Bank on the matter, he expressed hope that Bangladesh would be able to move forward along this path.
In the finance minister’s words, ‘The main thrust of our economic policy is investment. We want to move away from loans and go more towards direct investment and joint investment.’
Referring to the large volume of imports from the United States, he said the import of aircraft, oil, soybean and various other goods was having an impact on the balance of Bangladesh’s external payments as well as on the trade relationship between the two countries.
The minister said, ‘We told them emphatically that when Bangladesh is importing so much from the United States and the relationship between the two countries has reached this point, if this support does not come from the United States now, then when will it come? The assistance we are expecting should come now.’
He said the relevant US parties had agreed with Bangladesh’s position. How much of the expected assistance will actually materialise, and in what way, however, remains to be seen.
