ABSTRACT
This article is concerned with the finance of trade and agriculture in a backward area of Bangladesh. It indicates that there is a strong case for market reform, but the price-and state-focused reforms of the 1980s have had little influence on the markets of the area. The dominance of absentee landlords and moneylending merchants, and their provision of expensive and restrictive credit, have not been affected by the reduction of state involvement in agricultural markets.
