Dawdling industrialisation blamed for shrinking growth

The Unnayan Onneshan (UO), a think tank, said that the process of industrialisation has been taking place in Bangladesh with a dawdling rate of transition to a sustainable and inclusive industrialization, thereby causing the economy not to grow at expected level as well as the growth potentials not to be translated into actual. It revealed the matter in the September issue of Bangladesh Economic Update 2014. Pointing to the recent decelerated rate of growth in manufacture, the independent multidisciplinary think tank shows that the contribution of manufacturing to GDP has been calculated at 17.75 per cent, 18.28 pc, 19.0pc and 19.45pc in FY 2010-11, FY 2011-12, FY 2012-13 and FY 2013-14 respectively, whereas the rate of growth has been calculated at 8.68pc, 10.31pc, 9.96pc and 10.01pc in FY 2013-14, FY 2012-13, FY 2011-12 and FY 2010-11 respectively. In addition to the country’s large dependence on agriculture for employment, low labour absorption in industry, lack of innovation and technological advancement, and short of capital deepening, lack of export diversification, myopic adoption of macroeconomic policies and poor infrastructure cause the sluggishness in industrial development, the UO monthly update states, according to UNB.