Aiming high

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said she has revised her growth target and wants Bangladesh to be a ‘higher-middle income’ country within three years. “Bangladesh is a free and sovereign state. We will have to develop it like one. So everyone must work sincerely now that we have already attained lower-middle income status.” She continued that Bangladesh never wants to remain in the ‘lower’ tier and is aiming ‘high’. Her call comes only a day after World Bank released revised indices which showed Bangladesh has become a lower-middle income country with the Gross National Income per capita (GNI), joining those with annual incomes of $1,046 to $4,125. According to data released by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on May 14, the per capita income in Bangladesh rose from $1,190 to $1,314. The figure emerged from an analysis of data pertaining to the first nine months (July-March) of the 2014-15 financial year. The revised figures show that the Hasina-led government had fulfilled their electoral pledge of attaining middle income status by 2021 with six years to go. However, the prime minister is not complacent and wants to move to a higher pitch. “Bangladesh never wants to stay in the lower tier. It always wants to move higher. So we will do all that is needed to move higher,” according to bdnews24.com.