Thinking Aloud: Volume IX, Issue 9: February 1, 2023

The February issue of Thinking Aloud focuses on some critical issues facing Bangladesh and the region in general, including hundi business, border connectivity, and the Integrated Power Sector Master Plan 2023. The first-page article titled “The mechanism of the hundi business: What do we know and what we don’t?” outlines the complete picture of the hundi system in Bangladesh. The hundi business is illegal, informal, and well-organized while it works outside the conventional banking system. In the major labor-receiving countries of middle-east and east and southeast Asia, the hundi business is used by migrant workers from South Asia in general and from Bangladesh in particular. The article depicts both the demand and the supply side while discussing the ways to mitigate this issue. The article strongly emphasized the urgency to solve this issue and the role of political will in doing so. The second and third pages of this issue present two more articles. The second-page article, titled “Border Economic Zone as an Initiative to Strengthen Border Connectivity between Bangladesh and Northeast India”, presents compelling arguments for strengthening cross-border connectivity and trade between Bangladesh and the Northeastern region of India through the establishment of Border Economic Zones (BEZs). Discussing the status quo of cross-border trade arrangements, the article sheds light on the shortcomings and the bottlenecks that need to be addressed. The article further discusses the economic impact of the BEZs on the lives and livelihoods of the people of Bangladesh and the Northeast India region. The third-page article, titled “An appraisal of the Integrated Power Sector Master Plan 2023”, presents a detailed overview of the Integrated Power Sector Master Plan (IPSMP), which has been developed in consultation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Pointing out the IPSMP’s targets regarding the loss of load expectation (LOLE), the article delineates some crucial incongruences in the plan. In some cases, the plan has been overly ambitious, the article argues. The fourth page showcases the events in January 2023 and provides a glimpse into the upcoming 6th SANEM Annual Economists’ Conference (SAEC) 2023, to be held on February 4-5, 2023, both in person and online at the Brac Centre Inn, Dhaka, Bangladesh.