No big setback in GDP for floods, inflation, says Aziz
Friday, 2 November 2007
Disagreeing with IMF apprehension about economic slowdown due to adversities, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam Thursday ruled out any big setback in the gross domestic product (GDP) following the floods and high inflation, reports UNB.
"Only three months of this fiscal have passed off, it's too early to say anything about the GDP of this current fiscal," he said to reporters at Zia International Airport responding to a volley of questions about the country's economic health.
He returned home after a fortnight-long visit to the United States. In the USA, he attended meeting of the World Bank and IMF.
Striking a note of optimism despite the adversities, he listed some positive economic indicators: export growth until now at 15-16 per cent, remittance flow going good and the import of raw material in July-August showed an upward trend.
When his attention was drawn to the comments and observations by British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the said nobody in the IMF had informed him that the GDP growth of Bangladesh would be 5.5 per cent this fiscal.
Recently, Anwar Choudhury and the IMF said that GDP growth of Bangladesh would not exceed 5.5 per cent because of the flooding catastrophe.
"We cannot tell anything about flood damage right now. Anyone can tell anything from their own perception, but you have to have concrete statistics when you are talking about GDP," he replied to the projections given by the donor-country diplomat and the multilateral donor agency.
Replying to a query, Aziz denied having any negotiation with the IMF regarding a new agreement.
The Finance Adviser stuck to his guns over the overheated domestic market as he again blamed external pressure for recent inflation.
"There is no linkage of monitoring system about fluctuation of inflation on the market prices," he said.
"Only three months of this fiscal have passed off, it's too early to say anything about the GDP of this current fiscal," he said to reporters at Zia International Airport responding to a volley of questions about the country's economic health.
He returned home after a fortnight-long visit to the United States. In the USA, he attended meeting of the World Bank and IMF.
Striking a note of optimism despite the adversities, he listed some positive economic indicators: export growth until now at 15-16 per cent, remittance flow going good and the import of raw material in July-August showed an upward trend.
When his attention was drawn to the comments and observations by British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the said nobody in the IMF had informed him that the GDP growth of Bangladesh would be 5.5 per cent this fiscal.
Recently, Anwar Choudhury and the IMF said that GDP growth of Bangladesh would not exceed 5.5 per cent because of the flooding catastrophe.
"We cannot tell anything about flood damage right now. Anyone can tell anything from their own perception, but you have to have concrete statistics when you are talking about GDP," he replied to the projections given by the donor-country diplomat and the multilateral donor agency.
Replying to a query, Aziz denied having any negotiation with the IMF regarding a new agreement.
The Finance Adviser stuck to his guns over the overheated domestic market as he again blamed external pressure for recent inflation.
"There is no linkage of monitoring system about fluctuation of inflation on the market prices," he said.