Stories written by Khalilur Rahman

Odious Debts: What Can Bangladesh Learn from Ecuador?

By Anis Chowdhury and Khalilur Rahman
Bangladesh’s White Paper committee will review foreign loan deals signed by the fallen kleptocratic regime. We recommend that it identifies and declares the loans or portions of loans that did not benefit the nation as unpayable, because they were siphoned off the country by corrupt politically powerful elites, or worse used to buy deadly weapons and surveillance equipment to oppress people. Such loans are “odious” – they stink and are detestable.

Dealing with Bangladesh’s Odious Debt

By Anis Chowdhury and Khalilur Rahman
Bangladesh has become increasingly indebted since 2009. The country’s external debt stock increased from US$23.3 billion in 2008 to US$100.6 billion in December 2023 (see figure below). Thanks to the country’s mega-projects led so-called development with borrowed money under the now deposed authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina.

The Demise of Democracy and Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh: International Financial Institutions’ Culpability

By Anis Chowdhury and Khalilur Rahman
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are complicit in the gross human rights violations and death of democracy in Bangladesh. They continued to supply financial blood line to the regime, well-documented for its corruptions, human rights violations – such as forced disappearances and tortures in custody – and riggings of votes, including politicization of state institutions in its slide into autocracy. This is despite their professed commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance (IMF, World Bank, ADB).
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