On March 2, 2023, this daily reported that Moody’s, a major global rating agency, had downgraded its outlook of Bangladesh’s banking system from stable to negative. The report called this ‘a crushing development’ making ‘foreign transactions trickier and costlier for businesses and banks.’ It also noted that the latest downward revision came after the lowering of ratings of the Social Islami Bank and putting up the ratings of seven Bangladeshi banks’ under review for downgrades in December.  Reading the story took me back to a recently published book titled ‘ Lunthito Bhabishyat: Bangladesher Orthonaiitik Shonkoter Chaalchitra’ (A Plundered Future: The Realities of the Bangladesh’s Economic Crisis), in which Zia Hasan, a well-known researcher on development and economics, examined what prompted international financial institutions and rating agencies change their assessments of Bangladesh economy within a few months. Hasan, in his essay, argues that though Moody’s announcement of p...