Dr. Ahmad Al Kabir, Former Chairman, Rupali Bank

Dr. Ahmad Al Kabir, Former Chairman, Rupali Bank: Youths make up almost 65% of the country’s population. We have to ask ourselves how to employ such a large part of the populace through practical education.
Even the government worries about prioritizing the youth.
But we cannot merely worry; rather have to move forward in a planned manner. We have to employ it quickly.
The youth must be given utmost priority in the upcoming national budget. If we are to get the demographic dividend within the next 20-25 years, the youth must be put to work.
Otherwise, unemployed youth will engage in chaotic activities like drug dealing, etc.
The budget has to prioritize utilizing the unemployed youth. On one side, the youth have to be provided proper training, and on the other, it has to be made sure that they receive support from banks and other firms and will be able to utilize these skills properly.
The government has taken a lot of projects prioritizing the infrastructure sector, although the rate of progress has been sluggish. We have to energize it. If the expected work efficiency is not up to the mark, the causes have to be found and resolved. If necessary actions are taken, efficiency will return to work. In the current fiscal year, there has been severe lack of progress in the implementation of ADP and others.
Many have said that the upcoming budget is huge, but I do not believe that. In my opinion, this is a budget for continuity’s sake. No way can we call it a ‘huge’ budget. If we look at neighboring countries, our gross domestic product (GDP) and budget ratio is not that much significant. They are inconsistent with those of other nations. The size of the budget used to be small but the GDP has become high. Now, the budget has also become larger. I believe this is a positive change.
Based on an interview by Ashiq Rahman, translated by Abrar Hussain.