Bangladeshi Oligarchs

By Chowdhoury Mohibul Hassan, London School of, Economics & Political Science (LSE)
9 March 2004, 18:00 PM
I could not believe my eyes when I read the number of luxurious cars sold at the capital in the last two years since their arrival in Bangladesh. In a country where 35% of the population live below the poverty level and with just $360 per capita income, I wonder where these new oligarchs come from. Is that a sign of overall prosperity, or rather a sign of growing income disparity between the rich and the poor? Is it possible for any one with a sound mind to believe that Bangladesh made so much progress in some fifteen years (since "liberalisation") that people can now afford to buy luxuries that cost at least 150 times more than the country's per capita income? What is the source of this mountain of wealth? At a time when we are all talking about corruption in the government establishments and those who are linked with them, why should this so called 'businessmen' oligarchy escape from finger pointing?

In fact, there is no doubt that these oligarchs are the by-products of the nation's position as the 'Number One' corrupt country in the world, so we must not leave them alone.