BANGLADESH NEWS
The Finance Minister was all smiles as a businessman made the case for quick rental power on Saturday at a budget review session organised by journalists.
"Bangladesh would have been a lot poorer, the GDP loss would have been a staggering Tk 160,000 crore," said Annisul Huq, a former president of FBCCI and Saarc Chamber, as the Finance Minister listened.
A M A Muhith aside, former Planning Minister and BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan and BIDS researcher Binayak Sen also took part in the discussions sponsored by the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF).
"What else could we have done?" Huq said defending the current government's decision to go for the quick fix in the energy-starved Bangladesh, "There was no gas to fuel our plants and we would have been stuck with just 3,500 megawatts."
"That would have been disasterous for our economy ... I would have been struggling with production, exports," said Huq, also a former president of garment exporters' group BGMEA.
Minister Muhith was quick to grab the opportunity. "Yes, we were absolutely right."
The government's opting for the ambitious and apparently expensive option — oil-fired rental plants to feed factories and farms — has drawn fierce criticism from some professionals and opposition politicians.
"As someone closely involved, I have done some research," said Huq, who owns two plants. "Yes, our country had to incur a huge subsidy bill, but we must take into account the benefits we have accrued."
In the last three and a half years, nearly 6,000 megawatts of extra power was added to the national grid, he pointed out, thanks to the quick rental policy. "As of Jan 2009, the old plants were capable of producing only 3,874 megawatts although the capacity was 5166 megawatts in theory."
"This extra electricity created nine lakh (900,000) new jobs solely in the garments industry and gave us an extra US$ 7 billion in exports revenue," he claimed.
"Our agriculture would have suffered a loss of over Tk 9,000 crore," he argued and added gains from quick power far outweighed the subsidies, estimated to be Tk 16,600 crore.
The government subsidises the fuel used by these plants (Tk 9900 crore so far), and buys power at a rate higher than the selling price, losing Tk 6700 crore so far.
BNP's Moyeen Khan was, however, not convinced. "This rental power option has been disasterous. This has haemorrhaged our economy."
Muhith said the rental power gave the country much-needed breathing space. "We can now concentrate more on larger plants, work towards long-term solution."
By 2015, the minister said, Bangladesh would be able to come out of the rental dependence.
"Bangladesh would have been a lot poorer, the GDP loss would have been a staggering Tk 160,000 crore," said Annisul Huq, a former president of FBCCI and Saarc Chamber, as the Finance Minister listened.
A M A Muhith aside, former Planning Minister and BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan and BIDS researcher Binayak Sen also took part in the discussions sponsored by the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF).
"What else could we have done?" Huq said defending the current government's decision to go for the quick fix in the energy-starved Bangladesh, "There was no gas to fuel our plants and we would have been stuck with just 3,500 megawatts."
"That would have been disasterous for our economy ... I would have been struggling with production, exports," said Huq, also a former president of garment exporters' group BGMEA.
Minister Muhith was quick to grab the opportunity. "Yes, we were absolutely right."
The government's opting for the ambitious and apparently expensive option — oil-fired rental plants to feed factories and farms — has drawn fierce criticism from some professionals and opposition politicians.
"As someone closely involved, I have done some research," said Huq, who owns two plants. "Yes, our country had to incur a huge subsidy bill, but we must take into account the benefits we have accrued."
In the last three and a half years, nearly 6,000 megawatts of extra power was added to the national grid, he pointed out, thanks to the quick rental policy. "As of Jan 2009, the old plants were capable of producing only 3,874 megawatts although the capacity was 5166 megawatts in theory."
"This extra electricity created nine lakh (900,000) new jobs solely in the garments industry and gave us an extra US$ 7 billion in exports revenue," he claimed.
"Our agriculture would have suffered a loss of over Tk 9,000 crore," he argued and added gains from quick power far outweighed the subsidies, estimated to be Tk 16,600 crore.
The government subsidises the fuel used by these plants (Tk 9900 crore so far), and buys power at a rate higher than the selling price, losing Tk 6700 crore so far.
BNP's Moyeen Khan was, however, not convinced. "This rental power option has been disasterous. This has haemorrhaged our economy."
Muhith said the rental power gave the country much-needed breathing space. "We can now concentrate more on larger plants, work towards long-term solution."
By 2015, the minister said, Bangladesh would be able to come out of the rental dependence.
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