SDGs face funding crunch, governance deficit: experts

Bangladesh’s push to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals faces severe headwinds from poor revenue mobilisation, sluggish private investment, and institutional weaknesses, speakers warned yesterday.

The country will require an estimated $421 billion between 2026 and 2030 to meet its SDG targets. With the government expected to cover just 14 percent, the private sector must shoulder the remaining $362 billion.

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However, businesses continue to encounter regulatory delays, policy uncertainty, inadequate infrastructure, and unreliable data, while the tax-to-GDP ratio lingers at 7 percent to 8 percent against a 15 percent target.

Speaking at a session, titled “Reforming Economy, Data Governance and SDGs (Goals 16 and 17)”, AHM Jahangir, additional secretary and wing chief of development effectiveness at the Economic Relations Division, stressed that establishing an enabling environment is vital to attract private capital.

He cited low tax collection, infrastructure deficits, and project implementation delays as core obstacles. The event was held on the second day of the conference “Navigating Five-Year Strategic Framework for Achieving SDGs: Policy, Partnership and Priorities.”

The event was organised by the General Economics Division of the Planning Ministry at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center.

Although Bangladesh has advanced on select SDG indicators, chronic governance issues persist.

Macroeconomic pressures continue to hamper growth. M Masrur Reaz, chairman and CEO of the Policy Exchange of Bangladesh, highlighted that declining employment growth since 2017-18 has been compounded by structural flaws and licensing delays.

Pointing to weak exports, a widening trade gap, and port inefficiencies, Abu Ahmed, chairman of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, insisted that economic recovery must precede SDG success.

“None of the SDG goals can be achieved if the economy does not move upward,” he stated, warning that raising taxes without boosting incomes will merely burden the public.

Flawed statistics emerged as another major concern. Masrur, as well as Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Zahed Ur Rahman, both advisers to the Prime Minister, collectively emphasised that inaccurate data distort policymaking and undermines sustainable growth.

Rizvi urged full transparency, stating, “Whatever the reality is, it should be presented accurately,” while noting that Bangladesh now trails several regional peers in SDG performance.  Zahed recommended cross-checking GDP figures against electricity consumption, transport activity, and domestic investment to mirror actual economic conditions.

In response, Md Firoz Sarker, secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division, affirmed that official statistics represent a strategic public good.  The division is developing a microdata access policy alongside an advance release calendar for GDP, CPI, and employment metrics, adding that professional independence is essential for public trust.

Md Khaled Hassan, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, noted that the homicide rate dropped from 1.94 to 1.5 per 100,000 people, fulfilling the 2025 SDG target.

Conversely, reporting rates for physical, psychological, or sexual violence remain critically low at 5.4 percent, far below the 30 percent goal for 2030. Fear, lack of awareness, high legal costs, and institutional distrust prevent victims from seeking justice.

Furthermore, public perception of administrative corruption remains unchanged, with 30 percent of citizens still viewing bribery as a problem in 2025 compared to 31 percent in 2019 -- though among businesses, this figure fell from 41 to 23 percent.

Addressing structural erosion, Zahed Ur Rahman attributed current economic troubles to 15 years of disastrous governance that damaged state institutions, including the judiciary and bureaucracy. Urging patience, he noted that institutional and economic reforms must progress together, alongside efforts to reconstitute the Information Commission and resolve gas shortages threatening industrial energy security.