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GDP growth set at 8.20pc for FY’20

Economic output to exceed $347b


FE Report | June 14, 2019 00:00:00


The government has set an 8.2 per cent economic growth target for the fiscal year, 2019-20, aiming to raise it on to a higher trajectory within the next few years.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target is 0.07 percentage points higher than the 8.13 per cent provisionally estimated figure during the FY2019.

The government had targeted 7.8 per cent growth in the outgoing fiscal.

According to the budget speech, the country's GDP size may top US$347 billion in FY2020 from $301.9 billion in FY2019.

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, in his budget speech Thursday, said the government has set 10 per cent growth rate by 2024, sustaining it up to 2030.

The country's economy has been growing rapidly over the last few years as it hit the 8.0 per cent band in the outgoing fiscal.

Since FY2016, Bangladesh's economic growth has been hovering at 7.0 per cent, BBS statistics showed.

Mr Kamal quoting the latest GDP ranking based on PPP (purchasing power parity) published by the IMF said Bangladesh is now the 30th largest economy in the world.

In South Asia, Bangladesh is now the second-largest economy after India, he stated.

"Even the World Bank agrees, the way a small country with a large population of 16 crore (160 million) and within a limited span of time has spearheaded development is now a wonder to the people of the world," Mr Kamal said.

The finance minister mentioned Ban Ki Moon, ex-secretary general of the United Nations, Kaushik Basu, ex-chief economist of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, ex-president of the World Bank, who praised Bangladesh's economic progress.

He also quoted the Asian Development Bank, which said "Bangladesh is an example for other Asian countries."

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