Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), has condemned the interim government for signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the US, terming it unprecedented.
โThis is the first time in history that an NDA has been directly signed on an issue without making it non-paper. As a result, it has now become an obligation. Now, if Bangladesh appoints a lobbyist, this information cannot be disclosed to him,โ he said on Sunday.
He was speaking at a discussion on the โUS Reciprocal Tariff: Which Way Should Bangladesh Go,โ organised by the daily Prothom Alo at a hotel in the capital.
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Dr. Debapriya is known as a close aide of Prof Muhammad Yunus for over four decades. After Yunus captured power, he asked Dr Debapriya to prepare a white paper on the Awami League regimeโs money laundering. The report created huge hype but was rejected by many quarters, including the finance adviser.
However, he has been critical of the unconstitutional fascist government, as the latter took no visible steps to bring back the laundered money.
Dr. Debapriya said: โWe are moving forward with an innocent government in a muddy place. I have never witnessed a government of such innocence and integrity before.
He observed that the government’s negotiating ability is questionable due to a lack of political legitimacy and administrative coordination.
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He said: โIf a weak and uncoordinated government does not have political legitimacy, then it is rare for them to successfully negotiate.โ
However, the economist does not consider US President Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariff policy to be sustainable in the long term.
โThis initiative is a wake-up call for Bangladesh.โ
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He believes that this crisis has brought a big message to Bangladesh to diversify products, increase productivity, and build institutional capacity.
Dr. Debapriya said: โThis new tariff system is acting as an important warning sign in determining where Bangladesh will go in the future.โ
On July 14, Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin said preparations are underway for the third phase of negotiations with the United States on reciprocal tariffs, with a formal request already made for a timeline.
“We hope the US will set tariffs at a rational level,” he said during a press conference, upon returning to Dhaka after concluding the latest round of Bangladesh-US tariff talks.
The adviser mentioned that Bangladesh and the United States are bound by a non-disclosure agreement on this matter. Therefore, it is not possible to disclose what the US demanded or the details of the discussions, he noted.
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