Bangladesh loses at least 20 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) for poor regulations, a regulatory reform expert said on Thursday.
"Bangladesh is suffering from low level of regulations and the cost would be at least 20 per cent of its GDP," Managing Director of Jacobs, Cordova and Associates Scott H. Jacobs told the FE after a certificate giving ceremony on training on Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) at a city hotel.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) organised the training programme in association with International Finance Corporation.
Jacobs, Cordova and Associates and PricewaterhouseCoopers provided technical assistance for training.
Jacobs, Cordova and Associates is a consulting firm that offers a wide range of services in regulatory reform, rule of law and governance.
Mr Jacobs said he looked at comparisons of the countries which didn't go through an exhaustive process of improving the quality of regulatory framework to find as to how much Bangladesh loses from bad regulations.
Speaking at the programme, he also said Bangladesh is destroying its wealth as a result of poor regulatory practices.
"Poor regulatory framework creates high regulatory costs for businesses and consumers."
Bangladesh must follow RIA for the systematic implementation of the rules and regulations, he said, adding that RIA is a process for systematically making decisions whether the government should regulate the society.
Mr Jacobs said if a government regulates it must ensure it spends the lowest level of resources and achieve the highest target from regulations.
Acting President of FBCCI Md Muntakim Ashraf also spoke at the programme.
bdsmile@gmail.com