Privatisation : Bangladesh’s experience in perspective

Abstract

Bangladesh has had a remarkable record of public enterprise reforms involving mainly denationalisation and divestment relative to most developing countries. The governments reversed the pro-nationalisation approach to industrialisation by introducing the New Industrial Policy of 1982, the Revised Industrial Policy of 1986, the New Industrial Policy of 1991 and the trade liberalisation measures which gave more emphasis on the role of the private sector in the national economy. Successive governments in Bangladesh have divested or denationalised at least 609 public enterprises and only about 160 remain in the public sector. The improvements in the performance of the remaining public enterprises have been limited. In most cases, production has stagnated or declined, and the persistence of losses poses serious problems of fiscal management for the government. The scope of the existing privatisation policy is also limited. This paper outlines the background and nature of Bangladesh’s privatisation programme, critically assesses these trends which have guided its implementation. I have divided this work into five chapters, the first is a general overview on privatisation. The second chapter examines in detail the historical background and nature of privatisation in Bangladesh. The third chapter deals with the likely impact of privatisation in economy and society; and considers the issue of how to improve or refine the existing privatisation policy. The paper concludes with an overall assessment of the privatisation program.

Date of Award	1991
Original language	English