Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW Vol. 5 Num 717 Sun. June 04, 2006       Letters to Editor Performance of finance minister Dr. Q. M. Ohidul Alam, Panchlaish R/A, Chittagong M Iqbal Karim deserves special thanks for analysing the performance of the Finance Minister (DS-26May). Mr. Saifur Rahman is responsible to a great extent for the economic debacles. He has opened up our economy without ensuring that few of our items will enter the Indian market. He has allowed unnecessary imports to take dollar price to the present level. Since ours is an import-dominated economy, the poor had to suffer for higher prices of commodities. The minister's policy benefited very few businesses and political syndicates only. GDP at a sustainable rate does not prove the real strength of economy. It is distribution of wealth among the population and generation of employment which are strong indicators of good economy. The minister failed in this regard. He is the only finance minister in the history of Bangladesh who did not visit Chittagong, the commercial capital of the country. In the ECNEC meeting, he reportedly opposed many proposals vital for the economic interest of the country. His biggest failure is not to be able to push even six items to India and allowing thousands of items into our country in the name of free economy. Mr Karim rightly pointed out that the minister knows how to collect money but does not know how to use it.