Dhaka, Feb. 18 -- New Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has promised to end what he called a patronage-driven economy, alongside freeing the economy from "excessive layers of regulation".

On Wednesday, a day after taking oath as minister, Amir Khosru met journalists at the Secretariat for the first time since assuming office.

Khosru outlined his priorities for addressing the state of Bangladesh's institutions and the economy.

"Patronage economy cannot continue," he said. "Bangladesh's economy must be for everyone."

The veteran politician identified "poor" institutional health as the immediate challenge, adding: "The first problem is the very bad state of certain state institutions. We need to recover these institutions, br...