Debapriya Bhattacharya Criticizes Bangladesh’s Request to Defer LDC Graduation

Debapriya Bhattacharya has commented that the BNP government has effectively pressed the “crisis button” following Bangladesh’s recent request to postpone its graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by three years. He said the United Nations will not make a final decision immediately, as the process is time-consuming.

A five-day meeting of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) will begin in New York next Monday. At the meeting, it will be determined how Bangladesh’s application will be evaluated. Debapriya Bhattacharya, a member of the CDP and head of the Enhanced Monitoring Mechanism (EMM) subcommittee, is set to participate in the meeting.

He said that the current situation of three countries in the pipeline—Bangladesh, Nepal and Laos—will be reviewed. However, in Bangladesh’s case, the new element is the formal request to defer graduation. The application was sent by a secretary rather than the head of government, which could become a matter of procedural discussion.

Last Wednesday, Economic Relations Division Secretary Shahriar Kader Siddiky sent a letter to Jose Antonio Ocampo, chair of the CDP under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), requesting an extension until November 24, 2029. Under the previous decision, Bangladesh’s final graduation was scheduled for November 24 of this year.

Debapriya Bhattacharya said that under the conventional framework, Bangladesh’s previous assessment reports will be reviewed alongside recent data. In particular, comparisons will be made between the report submitted by the government last November and the new application, since the earlier report had stated that preparations for graduation were satisfactory.

Under the EMM framework, there is a provision to use a “crisis button,” which applies in abnormal or uncontrollable situations. In the past, the Solomon Islands utilized this facility in the context of a tsunami and social unrest and was granted additional time.

It is noted that graduation from LDC status is determined based on three criteria: per capita income, the Human Assets Index (HAI), and the Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI). Bangladesh met all three criteria in the triennial reviews of 2018 and 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, graduation was postponed by two years and was set to take effect in 2026.

Following Bangladesh’s new request, international attention is now focused on the upcoming CDP meeting.