Atiur rules out possibility of taka devaluation
Monday, 4 October 2010
FE Report
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman ruled out any possibility of devaluation of local currency saying the foreign exchange market remained 'stable'."Our foreign exchange market is stable and the exchange rate is good, so there is no necessity of devaluating our currency at present," the BB governor said.
He expressed the view while speaking at the monthly luncheon meeting of the France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCIFB) as the guest speaker at a city hotel Sunday. Shah Sayed Kamal, president of CCIFB presided over the meeting.
Referring to the success story of Bangladesh, the BB governor said major sectors including export, import, remittance and the stock market have been performing remarkably well.
"Our exports and imports have increased and other indicators including remittance are showing encouraging signs. The economy has shown its resilience", Atiur added.
The governor said average inflation rate will be around 6.7 per cent this year and the central bank will do everything to contain the point-to-point inflation.
With current trends of per capita national income growth, achieving the middle income country status for Bangladesh is not far away, he said. "Bangladesh has targeted acceleration of real GDP growth rate to 8 percent per annum by 2015 and to 10 percent by 2021," the governor said. "If the current trend in growth of per capita income prevails, reaching the middle income threshold of US$ 976 should not take more than another 3 years" he added.
Competitiveness in terms of low cost labour, private sector is the lead driver of economic growth in Bangladesh, he observed. "Bangladesh is striking a delicate and appropriate balance between promoting higher value added manufacturing and service activities and supporting continued strong expansion and productivity gains in "labour intensive agricultural activities", Atiur said.
Growing exports and remittance inflows are bolstering external sector viability, he pointed out.
Bangladesh has achieved remarkable development turnaround with relatively low investment level compared with the East Asian economies, he said.
"Over the 39 years since liberation, Bangladesh has raised its per capita income four-fold, cutting poverty by more than half, and is well on course in attaining most of the millennium development goals," he said.
He also urged the exporters to diversify export items as the export Basket is highly concentrated on ready-made garments which is risky. However, he said Bangladesh still faces daunting challenges of pervasive poverty, climate change threat, governance weaknesses and deficiencies in physical infrastructure and human development. Rifat Rashid, Director of CCIFB, Humayun Rashid, vice-president of CCIFB and Eric Blanc, trade commissioner of Economic Department, French embassy were also present at the function.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman ruled out any possibility of devaluation of local currency saying the foreign exchange market remained 'stable'."Our foreign exchange market is stable and the exchange rate is good, so there is no necessity of devaluating our currency at present," the BB governor said.
He expressed the view while speaking at the monthly luncheon meeting of the France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCIFB) as the guest speaker at a city hotel Sunday. Shah Sayed Kamal, president of CCIFB presided over the meeting.
Referring to the success story of Bangladesh, the BB governor said major sectors including export, import, remittance and the stock market have been performing remarkably well.
"Our exports and imports have increased and other indicators including remittance are showing encouraging signs. The economy has shown its resilience", Atiur added.
The governor said average inflation rate will be around 6.7 per cent this year and the central bank will do everything to contain the point-to-point inflation.
With current trends of per capita national income growth, achieving the middle income country status for Bangladesh is not far away, he said. "Bangladesh has targeted acceleration of real GDP growth rate to 8 percent per annum by 2015 and to 10 percent by 2021," the governor said. "If the current trend in growth of per capita income prevails, reaching the middle income threshold of US$ 976 should not take more than another 3 years" he added.
Competitiveness in terms of low cost labour, private sector is the lead driver of economic growth in Bangladesh, he observed. "Bangladesh is striking a delicate and appropriate balance between promoting higher value added manufacturing and service activities and supporting continued strong expansion and productivity gains in "labour intensive agricultural activities", Atiur said.
Growing exports and remittance inflows are bolstering external sector viability, he pointed out.
Bangladesh has achieved remarkable development turnaround with relatively low investment level compared with the East Asian economies, he said.
"Over the 39 years since liberation, Bangladesh has raised its per capita income four-fold, cutting poverty by more than half, and is well on course in attaining most of the millennium development goals," he said.
He also urged the exporters to diversify export items as the export Basket is highly concentrated on ready-made garments which is risky. However, he said Bangladesh still faces daunting challenges of pervasive poverty, climate change threat, governance weaknesses and deficiencies in physical infrastructure and human development. Rifat Rashid, Director of CCIFB, Humayun Rashid, vice-president of CCIFB and Eric Blanc, trade commissioner of Economic Department, French embassy were also present at the function.