Kamal named 'Finance Minister of the Year 2020'

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has been named the 'Finance Minister of the Year 2020', according to international financial affairs publication The Banker, reports BSS.

The recognition came from the reputed monthly magazine 'The Banker, a publication of the UK-based globally renowned 'The Financial Times Group' on Thursday.

The Banker magazine has been published since 1926, which is known as the world's banking sector intelligence. They have been giving the 'Finance Minister of the Year' award since 2004.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal dedicated the award to the people of the country, saying that he achieved this rare honour following the path shown by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

According to the magazine, Mustafa Kamal took on the role of Bangladesh's finance minister in January 2019 with the aim of building up the country's economy by opening it up to foreign investment.

The country has already seen an impressive rate of economic growth in recent years, reaching 8 per cent over the past two years, while the country was ranked 41st in the 'Centre for Economics and Business Research's World Economic League Table 2019' global rankings, it has forecast that Bangladesh will become the 24th largest economy in the world by 2033.

"After attaining an economic growth rate of more than 7 per cent for three consecutive years, Bangladesh achieved an 8.15 per cent growth rate in the fiscal year 2019. The country also made a remarkable progress in the improvement of socio-economic indicators such as poverty reduction, health, education and women empowerment," said Kamal.

To achieve the consistent 7 per cent or above growth rate needed to hit this target requires the country to rethink how it operates. Kamal has been instrumental in attracting international support for the country by pushing for greater levels of foreign direct investment.