On Public Indebtedness  Jyoti Rahman  Published in the Daily
Star Forum on 5 September 2011.  This piece asks whether
Bangladesh could have done better.  To a casual observer, the $1
billion loan from India to Bangladesh agreed by the countries’
prime ministers in January 2010 might appear to be a major
issue. If the observer is sympathetic to the government’s India
policy, or has a favourable view of India, this loan is likely
to be seen as the latest evidence of Indian beneficence to
Bangladesh. To those more sceptic of the government, or India,
there are all sorts of cynical suggestions about this being a
debt trap, the latest in a long line of perfidious attempts to
subjugate Bangladesh.  How big a deal is this billion, really?
One way to answer that question is to consider the amount. This
is quite easy, and the answer is — the loan is probably not as
big a deal as one might think. In 2010, Bangladesh’s economy was
measured at about $105 billion. And that economy is growing by
6-7% a year.  Meanwhile,