Agricultural Policy Reforms and Structural Adjustments in Bangladesh

Hasan, Mohammad Monirul (2012): Agricultural Policy Reforms and Structural Adjustments in Bangladesh.

Abstract

This paper depicts the agricultural policy reforms and structural changes in Bangladesh from independence to the present times. Bangladesh agriculture has experienced major structural changes and achieved major successes over the last three and a half decades. Reforms began in the late 1970s and early 1980s by liberalizing the input markets. Both domestic and trade policy got a vibration of liberalization in the early 1990s. After the independence, Bangladesh followed a highly restrictive trade and exchange rate policy characterized by import regulations, high import tariffs, export taxes, persistent quantitative restrictions and an overvalued exchange rate. With a decade long half-hearted attempt towards trade liberalization, the democratic government in 1991 took courageous steps towards reforming the trade regime. Reforms instigated during this period included reducing and compressing tariffs, implementing and publishing a less complicated import tax structure, gradually eliminating non-tariff import restrictions, and promoting exports through income tax exemptions, bonded warehousing, and flexible exchange rate management. The recent Import-Export Policy 2009-2012 is a major step to the continuation of the liberalization of international trade.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• English Title: Agricultural Policy Reforms and Structural Adjustments in Bangladesh 2012
• Language: English
• Keywords: Agricultural policy, Structural Policy, Trade reform, Bangladesh, Policy reforms in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Economic reforms, policy changes, structural adjustment policy, Five year plans in Bangladesh, Fiscal reforms
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E61 - Policy Objectives ; Policy Designs and Consistency ; Policy Coordination; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook > E62 - Fiscal Policy; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F13 - Trade Policy ; International Trade Organizations; N - Economic History > N1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics ; Industrial Structure ; Growth ; Fluctuations > N10 - General, International, or Comparative; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O13 - Agriculture ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Other Primary Products; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q10 - General; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q17 - Agriculture in International Trade; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q18 - Agricultural Policy ; Food Policy

References

Ahmed et al. (2007) “Distortion to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh”, Agricultural Distortions Working Paper 32

Ahmed, Raisuddin (1995), “Liberalization of agricultural input markets in Bangladesh: process, impact, and lessons”, Agricultural Economics, 12 (2) 115–128

Ahmed, Raisuddin (1996) “Agricultural Market Reforms in South Asia”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78 (3), 815–819

Bakht, Z. (2001b), “Trade Liberalization, Exports and Growth of Manufacturing Industries in Bangladesh” in M.M. Huq and J. Love (eds.), Strategies for Industrialization: The Case of Bangladesh, Dhaka: University Press Ltd.

Dorosh, P. and A. Valdès (1990), “Effects of Exchange Rate and Trade Policies on Agriculture in Pakistan”, Research Report 84, Washington DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Hossain, Mahabub (1988), “Credit for alleviation of rural poverty: the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh”, IFPRI Research Report No 65, Washington DC

Lewis, S., and S.E. Guisinger (1971), “The Structure of Protection in Pakistan in the Structure of Protection in developing countries”, Bela Balassa ed. Baltimore (Johns Hopkins Press)

Rahman, S.H. (1994), “The Impact of Trade and Exchange Rate Policies on Economic Incentives in Bangladesh Agriculture”, Working Paper No. 8, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC, July.

World Bank (1963), “The Economic Development Program of Pakistan”, Report No AS-96a, Washington DC: World Bank.

World Bank (1975), “Bangladesh: Survey of the Jute and Cotton Textile Industries”; Report No. 883-BD, Washington DC: World Bank.

World Bank (1994), Bangladesh: From Stabilization to Growth, Washington DC: World Bank.

World Bank (2004), Trade Policies in South Asia: An Overview (Volume II: An Overview),Washington DC: World Bank.