After many ups and downs, Bangladesh has passed half a century of its independence. The emerging tiger of South Asia liberated following a nine-month bloody battle. Before that, Bangladesh was under the dominion of Pakistan for 24 years.
Now many people are calculating that how far Bangladesh is ahead or behind Pakistan after passing its golden jubilee. Looting the then East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh), the leaders of the then West Pakistan (currently Pakistan) enriched their economy and built world’s one of the powerful troops. How both the countries are doing right now since Pakistan which left the central bank of Bangladesh with zero balance in 1971 while quitting this county?
The prolonged unstable political situation has broken the Pakistan’s economic system. Currently the county is undergoing a national power outage.
If we have a look at the currency value during the time of independence and the present, we will understand that Bangladesh has left Pakistan far behind by building a country from the burning ashes.
After independence in 1971, the value of 100 Pakistani rupees was equal to 165 Bangladeshi Taka. Which means BDT 100 is equal to 61 Pakistani rupees.
Now after almost 52 years, the picture is exactly the opposite. To buy Bangladeshi 100 Taka in exchange of Pakistani Rupee, a person needs to bear 236 Pakistani rupees, almost 4 times demeaned than 1972.
On the other hand, the Pakistani rupee is also in a bad position against the US dollar. The country's currency exchange rate stands at 250 rupees against a dollar while Taka 106 is the official exchange rate of one USD in Bangladesh.
The government of Pakistan withdrew its control over the exchange rate of the USD to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since then, the value of the Pakistani rupee has been depreciating rapidly. Even after taking huge loans from IMF, Pakistan could not change its situation. The IMF then made it clear that no new loan will be provided to Pakistan if the conditions are not met. The IMF alleges that the country's government only wants to borrow without meeting their conditions. Whereas, Bangladesh is on the way to get IMF funds.
Pakistan's economic situation is dire with rampant inflation, current account and trade deficits, and the low foreign reserve. Current reserves have fallen below USD 6 billion. Last year's devastating floods and recent electrical disasters in the country have also affected the economy.
Compared to that, the currency market of Bangladesh is relaxed now.
Not only the financial crisis but also food prices have increased to abnormal levels in Pakistan due to the massive currency devaluation. In some places, a packet of flour is being sold for Rs 3000, according to Pakistani media.
Civil society members, even the former prime minister Imran Khan expressed fear that his country’s situation could turn into that of Sri Lanka.
Pakistan has taken steps to reduce the salaries of ministers and government officials to lessen the costs. A new proposal has been brought to reduce the salaries of ministers-state ministers and deputy ministers by 15 percent and the salaries of government officials and employees by 10 percent. It has even been recommended to reduce the number of central cabinet members from 78 to 30.
It can be said that Bangladesh is in a much better condition than Pakistan from the political point of view as well.
