Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has substantially liberalized its trade and agricultural pricing policies since independence in 1971, removing most distortions to agricultural incentives by the mid-1990s. Although trade protection for some agricultural and industrial p...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC : World Bank
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/374841468149087776/Main-report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37203 |
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okr-10986-372032022-03-24T05:10:41Z Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh Ahmed, Nazneen Bakht, Zaid Dorosh, Paul Shahabuddin, Quazi AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES MONOPOLY EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH STRUCTURAL CHANGES GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT EXCHANGE RATES TRADE POLICIES INWARD-ORIENTED POLICIES POLICY REFORMS TRADE LIBERALIZATION NOMINAL RATES DISTORTIONS POLITICAL ECONOMY RICE WHEAT JUTE Bangladesh has substantially liberalized its trade and agricultural pricing policies since independence in 1971, removing most distortions to agricultural incentives by the mid-1990s. Although trade protection for some agricultural and industrial products has increased sharply since 1998, total distortions in agriculture remain small. In particular, domestic and international trade policies for the major staples, rice and wheat, are substantially more liberal than in Pakistan or India. In the early 1970s, Bangladesh pursued a highly restrictive trade and exchange rate policy characterized by import regulations, high import tariffs, export taxes, pervasive quantitative restrictions, and an overvalued exchange rate, similar to policies of the 1960s when it was part of united Pakistan. The policy regime in the 1970s was especially restrictive for the agricultural sector. The government had a monopoly on import of most agricultural commodities and placed major restrictions on exports of raw jute, the major agricultural export. As a result of these distortions, agricultural price incentives were substantially reduced throughout the period (Rahman 1994). This chapter describes the changing structure of distortions to agricultural incentives in Bangladesh, and the forces that have driven it. The next section describes the growth and structural changes of the Bangladesh economy with particular emphasis on the agricultural sector. An overview of the evolution of agricultural policies in Bangladesh since independence is then provided, before reporting time series of estimates of nominal rates of assistance (NRAs) for selected agricultural products. The changing political economy of agricultural price and trade policies is then discussed, followed by some concluding observations. 2022-03-23T19:50:58Z 2022-03-23T19:50:58Z 2007-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/374841468149087776/Main-report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37203 English en_US Agricultural Distortions Working Paper;No. 32 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC : World Bank Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research South Asia Bangladesh |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES MONOPOLY EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH STRUCTURAL CHANGES GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT EXCHANGE RATES TRADE POLICIES INWARD-ORIENTED POLICIES POLICY REFORMS TRADE LIBERALIZATION NOMINAL RATES DISTORTIONS POLITICAL ECONOMY RICE WHEAT JUTE |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL INCENTIVES MONOPOLY EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ECONOMIC GROWTH STRUCTURAL CHANGES GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT EXCHANGE RATES TRADE POLICIES INWARD-ORIENTED POLICIES POLICY REFORMS TRADE LIBERALIZATION NOMINAL RATES DISTORTIONS POLITICAL ECONOMY RICE WHEAT JUTE Ahmed, Nazneen Bakht, Zaid Dorosh, Paul Shahabuddin, Quazi Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| geographic_facet |
South Asia Bangladesh |
| relation |
Agricultural Distortions Working Paper;No. 32 |
| description |
Bangladesh has substantially liberalized
its trade and agricultural pricing policies since
independence in 1971, removing most distortions to
agricultural incentives by the mid-1990s. Although trade
protection for some agricultural and industrial products has
increased sharply since 1998, total distortions in
agriculture remain small. In particular, domestic and
international trade policies for the major staples, rice and
wheat, are substantially more liberal than in Pakistan or
India. In the early 1970s, Bangladesh pursued a highly
restrictive trade and exchange rate policy characterized by
import regulations, high import tariffs, export taxes,
pervasive quantitative restrictions, and an overvalued
exchange rate, similar to policies of the 1960s when it was
part of united Pakistan. The policy regime in the 1970s was
especially restrictive for the agricultural sector. The
government had a monopoly on import of most agricultural
commodities and placed major restrictions on exports of raw
jute, the major agricultural export. As a result of these
distortions, agricultural price incentives were
substantially reduced throughout the period (Rahman 1994).
This chapter describes the changing structure of distortions
to agricultural incentives in Bangladesh, and the forces
that have driven it. The next section describes the growth
and structural changes of the Bangladesh economy with
particular emphasis on the agricultural sector. An overview
of the evolution of agricultural policies in Bangladesh
since independence is then provided, before reporting time
series of estimates of nominal rates of assistance (NRAs)
for selected agricultural products. The changing political
economy of agricultural price and trade policies is then
discussed, followed by some concluding observations. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Ahmed, Nazneen Bakht, Zaid Dorosh, Paul Shahabuddin, Quazi |
| author_facet |
Ahmed, Nazneen Bakht, Zaid Dorosh, Paul Shahabuddin, Quazi |
| author_sort |
Ahmed, Nazneen |
| title |
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| title_short |
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| title_full |
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr |
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Bangladesh |
| title_sort |
distortions to agricultural incentives in bangladesh |
| publisher |
Washington, DC : World Bank |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/374841468149087776/Main-report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37203 |
| _version_ |
1764484478123638784 |