The Independent Review of Bangladesh's Development (IRBD) 2000 is the fifth of the series which was launched in 1995 when the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) pioneered an annual review of the state of Bangladesh's development. The IRBD exercise has by now established itself as one of the principal sources of reliable data and quality analysis pertaining to critical developmental issues in Bangladesh. The IRBD volumes demonstrate a unique effort by independent professionals to establish the fact that the civil society in Bangladesh is capable of assuming the responsibility, on a containing basis, for holding policy-makers accountable for their stewardship of the developmental process. The current volume Changes and Challenges undertakes a comprehensive review of the state of the economy during FY2000, and puts under scrutiny major policy initiatives, growth dynamics and recent trends in the Bangladesh economy. IRBD2000 analysis Macroeconomic Performance in its major dimensions and also deals with developments particularly in the External Sector and in Agriculture during the fiscal year 2000. In addition to examining the current performance of the Bangladesh economy, IRBD2000 also contains focused analyses of the country's emerging developmental challenges. Thus, the volume also deals with a select sect of issues of strategic importance for the future development of Bangladesh. These issues include the state of Governance, Rethinking Anti-Poverty, Development of the Gas Sector and Power Sector Restructuring.