Bangladesh’s GDP growth to decline to 5.5pc: ADB
April 14, 2010
Projecting a decline in Bangladesh’s GDP growth to 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal from 5.9 per cent of the last fiscal (2009-09), Asian Development Bank on Tuesday said this will happen because of late-unfolding effects of the global economic recession.The slowdown in growth will be partly due to lagged effects of depressed external demand for Bangladesh’s mainly low-end garment exports, it said.
Addressing a press conference at the multilateral donor agency’s Dhaka office marking release of ADB quarterly Economic Outlook, the officials said growth will likely improve in the coming fiscal (2010-11) as the worldwide economic recovery strengthens.
Laying special emphasis on resolving power and gas shortage, they said industries and other sectors are suffering a lot that impedes the overall growth of the country.
Failure to address power and gas shortage as well as the unexpected surge in commodity prices have been predicted to be the biggest risk for the economy, the ADB officials said.
They, however, noted that significant improvement in power and gas supply situation is unlikely in near future as it needs huge time to set up large base-load power plants.
Expressing concern about the overseas employment, the ADB said it has declined by 42.2 per cent up to February with many workers returning home although remittance has marked a 19.2 per cent growth up to that time.
ADB country director Paul J Heytens addressed the press conference while M Zahid Hossain made the presentation on economic outlook. ADB energy expert Rahman Murshed also spoke on the occasion.
The ADB said that the country’s economy was affected a little late by the global recession. But now the global economy is recovering and Bangladesh economy will also take a positive look in the coming days.
It said that industrial growth will slow down to 5.6 per cent in the current fiscal as against 5.9 per cent in the last fiscal. Similarly, the services sector growth will slow down to 5.9 per cent from 6.3 per cent.
But at the same time, ADB expressed hope for the coming fiscal that the industrial sector will grow robustly at 7.5 per cent with recovery in global demand and improved domestic business confidence that will increase construction and investment.
Similarly, domestic support such as financial support to small and medium enterprises should also boost industrial output in the coming year.
Appreciating the growth in the revenue collection, the ADB said the revenue growth rose 16.2 per cent in last 7 months from 9.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
‘With the current pace, revenue targets for the fiscal 2009-10 are expected to be attained,’ revealed the ADB outlook.
The ADB said that inflation is predicted at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal and 7.8 per cent in the next fiscal.
Source: http://www.newagebd.com/
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.