Report on

The Economy of Bangladesh Compared To the Rest of the World

By Looking Into The Past, Present And Future Prospect Of The Country.’

Submitted to

Najifa Teesha
Course- Lecturer

Course Title: Socio-Economic Profiles of Bangladesh

Course Code: ECO 1124
Section- (D)
Department of School of Business Studies
Southeast University, Dhaka - 1213

Tarek Isteeak Tonmoy ----------- ID: 2016010000130

BBA Program
Batch 42
Southeast University
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Executive Summary

This paper briefly presents the economic trends of Bangladesh since the 1970s. The analyses
presented in the paper provide firsthand information about the potentials as well as the
constraints and challenges for the economy.

The GDP growth rate of Bangladesh started picking up since the 1990s and over the last 5 (five)
years has maintained a growth rate of around 6%. It is recognized that the economy has the
potential to grow at an even higher growth rate if the growth constraints such as poor
governance, rampant corruption, infrastructure bottlenecks, underdeveloped financial markets
and failure to attract FDI are removed.

Over time, there has been structural transformation in the economy with a shift from
predominantly agriculture-led economy towards industry-led economy; the contribution of
agricultural sector to GDP was 38% in early 70s but declined to 21% in 2007-08, while the
contribution of industrial sector increased from 15% to 30% during the same period of time.
Investment remained stagnated until the 1980s but started picking up since early 1990s, mainly
attributable to the openness of economy and the introduction of a liberal policy environment;
creating increased opportunities for private investment. The investment-to-GDP ratio during
2006-2008 period stood at around 24% of GDP, but it should in the neighborhood of 30% in
order for the economy to reach two-digit growth trajectory. The policy biases in the distribution
of public resources have created disparity between the eastern and the western regions of the
country. Appropriate policy intervention is needed to correct the imbalance.

The inflation for the first time touched double-digit in 2007-08 mainly due to supply shocks
arising from substantial increases in the international prices of fuel, fertilizer and food items as
well as natural calamities caused by cyclone SIDR and floods. However, in the recent months the
inflation rate has come down and in December '08 it stood at 6.03% on point to point basis.

During the last three years (2017-2018-2019), the national savings grew to 28.6% on an average.
The mobilization of domestic resources and the transforming of national savings into investible
surplus are critical for the continued growth of the economy.

Many see Bangladesh as a 'market’ of over 30 million middle- and affluent-class people and a
‘Development miracle’. To me, our strengths are the societal values and peoples’ trust in
Bangladesh leadership. HSBC, Predicted that Bangladesh would be the 26th-largest economy in

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the world, by 2030. Two things are key: one is our open society, religious harmony, liberal values
and secular culture. The other is that two-third of our homogenous population is young – mostly
under 25. They are quickly skill-able, adaptive to technologies, and ready to engage at
competitive wages.

TABLE OF CONTANT

Chapter - 1 PAST HISTORY OF BANGLADESH ECONOMOY Page

1.1 Introduction 5

1.2 Literature Review of trade Liberalization in 5-6

Developing Countries

1.3 Nature of Trade Liberalization in 6

Bangladesh

1.4 Growth 7

1.5 Sectorial Contribution to Incremental 7

Growth

1.6 Skewed Structural Transformation 7

1.7 Income Distribution 8

1.8 Savings 8

1.9 Investment 9

2.0 Revenue Receipts 9

2.1 Public Expenditure 9

2.2 Domestic Credit Expansion 10

2.3 Government Borrowing 10

2.4 Inflation 11

2.5 Foreign Aid 11

2.6 Openness, Exports and Imports 12

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 2.7 End Era 12

Chapter 2 Present Situation of Bangladesh Economy

2.8 Overview 13

2.9 World Economy 14

3.0 Macroeconomic Situation in Bangladesh 14-15

3.1 Sector-wise Economic Progress

(A) Agriculture 15

(B) Industry 15-16

(C) State-Owned Enterprises 16

(D) Power and Energy 16

(E) Transport and Communication 17

(F) Human Resource Development 17-18

(G) Health 18

(H) Poverty Alleviation 18

(I) Private Sector Development 19

3.2 Summary of background 20-21

Chapter 3 The Future of Bangladesh Economy

3.3 OVERVIEW 22

3.4 Procedures 23

3.5 Risk 24

3.6 Results 25

3.7 Conclusions 25

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 3.8 Reference 26

Chapter 1PAST HISTORY OF BANGLADESH ECONOMOY

1.1 Introduction -Like many developing countries, the primary focus of policies in Bangladesh
is to obtain high and sustainable growth. However, to achieve and maintain a higher growth
rate, policy makers need to understand the determinants of growth as well as how policies
affect growth. Trade liberalization policy in 1990 opened up the opportunity for the
Bangladesh economy to enhance economic growth and foster overall development. Openness
can have a positive effect on economic growth, exports, imports, FDI and remittance of a
country. The history of Bangladesh’s economy starts in the 1960s, where the then East
Pakistan’s economy grew by an annual average rate of around 4 per cent. About a fifth of that
economy was destroyed during the Liberation War of 1971, and severe dislocations caused at
that time left Bangladesh on a slower economic growth trajectory for the following two
decades. Then the economy accelerated sharply from 1990 due to mainly trade openness and
restoration of democracy (Islam, 2001). In the last two decades Bangladesh economy was
characterized by successful expansion of export-oriented garment industry, and the
implementation of a ‘Green Revolution’ (A significant increase in agricultural productivity
resulting from the introduction of High-yield varieties of grains, the use of pesticides) in rice
production. They enabled Bangladesh to survive the decline of the world market for its
former stable exports of jute and jute textiles, and to redeploy its resources in line with its
comparative advantage. This study uses OLS technique to find out the impact of trade
openness on export, import, inflation and overall economic growth during the period of 1980
to 2010. This study breaks down the objective of finding out the impact of trade liberalization
on economic growth of Bangladesh into four main sections.

1.2 Literature Review of trade Liberalization in Developing Countries- Most of the

economic literature considers that trade liberalization leads to an increase in welfare derived
from an improved allocation of domestic resources. Import restrictions of any kind create an
anti-export bias by raising the price of importable goods relative to exportable goods. The
removal of this bias through trade liberalization will encourage a shift of resources from the
production of import substitutes to the production of export-oriented goods. This, in turn, will
generate growth in the short to medium term as the country adjusts to a new allocation of
resources more in keeping with its comparative advantage (McCulloch, winters and Cierra,
2001). The most compelling argument for greater liberalization comes from the effects on
economic efficiency, which promotes private investment and economic growth. Higher
growth in turn helps lower poverty by increasing employment and real incomes of the poor.
In an influential paper, Krugman (1990) summarized the reasons why trade liberalization is

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 good for growth in developing countries. Firstly, Developing countries have production
patterns that are skewed towards labor-intensive service, agriculture and manufacturing.
People have low per capita incomes and markets in such countries are usually small. A
liberalized trade regime allows low-cost producers to expand their output well beyond that
demanded in the domestic market. Secondly, whereas industrialization based on protection of
domestic industries thus results in even-higher capital intensity of production, the open trade
regime permits enjoyment of constant returns to scale over a much wider range and finally
import substitution regimes normally give bureaucrats considerable discretion either in
determining which industries should be encouraged or in allocating scarce foreign exchange
in a regime of quantitative restrictions, leading to serious efficiency losses. The most well-
known recent study that provides evidence on trade liberalization, growth and poverty
reduction is that of Kraay and David Dollar (2001). The study concludes that one third of the
developing countries of the world, described as “rapid globalizers”, did extremely well in
terms of income growth and poverty reduction over the past two decades or so. These
countries, which include Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka in South Asia, have experienced
large increases in trade and significant reduction in tariff and non-tariff barriers. Bangladesh,
for instance, saw its trade GDP ratio almost double (during the course of the 1990s decade).
In contrast, the remaining two-thirds of the developing world, with a large concentration in
Africa, that did not experience trade expansion due to a lack of sufficient outward
orientation, performed poorly both in terms of growth and poverty reduction. Other studies
look at the relationship between openness and growth, the presumption being growth is good
for the poor. Thus, Wacziarg (1998) investigates the links between trade policy and economic
growth using data from a panel of 57 countries from 1979-89. The results suggest that trade
openness has a strong positive impact on economic growth.

1.3 Nature of Trade Liberalization in Bangladesh - Trade liberalization policies pursued by

Bangladesh have passed through three phases. The first phase (1982-86) was undertaken as
Bangladesh came under the purview of the policy based lending of the World Bank; the
second phase (1987-91) began with the initiation of the three year IMF structural adjustment
facility (SAF) in 1986; and finally, the third phase since 1992, was preceded by the IMF
sponsored Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) (BIDS, 2003). These reform
measures led to a significant decline in quantitative restrictions, opening up of trade in many
restricted items, rationalization and diminution of import tariffs, and liberalization of foreign
exchange regime. In Bangladesh, the economy is often adversely affected by floods and
cyclones which affect output, especially agricultural output. In estimating the regression, it
became evident that the openness variable was endogenous. Hence, instrumental variable
methods were used. Initially, we used foreign direct investment as a percent of GDP as the
instrument. The correlation between these two variables was around 0.7 which is satisfactory
for an instrument. Then, openness was regressed by foreign direct investment. The fitted

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values of openness were used as the instrument.

1.4 Growth

The Bangladesh Economy has experienced acceleration during the 1990s in comparison to
the 1980s. The economic growth of Bangladesh has routinely registered 4 per cent plus
growth in the 1990s. In the 1990s, the growth momentum was higher during the second half
of the decade in comparison to the first half: average growth rates were 4.4 per cent (FY91-
95). According to the BBS, the Bangladesh economy posted a growth of 5.5 per cent during
FY04 as against 5.3 per cent in FY03 and 4.4 per cent in FY02. And I-PRSP projections
indicate that GDP growth rate will grow at 6.0 per cent in FY05 and reach to 6.5 per cent in
FY06.

1.5 Sectorial Contribution to Incremental Growth

the sectorial growth figures show that within the real economy sectors such as Industry
demonstrated stronger growth during the first half of the 1990s as against the impressive
performance of the Agriculture in the subsequent period. It should be noted that during the
second half of the 1990s, the Agriculture and Industry emerged as the major source of GDP
growth in comparison to more pronounced role of the Service Sector in the earlier half of the
decade. But in the recent time Service Sector again dominates as the major source of GDP
growth and accounted an average of more than 50 per cent from FY01-FY04.

1.6 Skewed Structural Transformation

The ongoing structural transformation of the Bangladesh economy is characterized by the

falling share of the Agriculture sector with marginal increase of the manufacturing in the
backdrop of increasing contribution of the service sector. In FY01-04, the real economic
sector accounted for 39.3 per cent of the GDP; the said proportion was 40.98 per cent for the
period of FY91-95 and 41.25 per cent in FY96-00. This suggests that in spite of improved
growth, the evolution of the Bangladesh's economy remains biased against modern, industrial
transformation having concomitant implications for sustained growth and equitable income
distribution.

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1.7 Income Distribution

In spite of improved growth throughout the 1990s, income distribution deteriorated during
this period coupled with slow pace of poverty alleviation. The per capita income of
Bangladesh at the beginning of this decade was not only the lowest among the South Asian
countries, but also below the average per capita income of the least-developed countries
(LDCs). Whatsoever, a per capita growth rate of 4-5 per cent is impressive by LDC and even
developing country standards, particularly if it can be sustained. Bangladesh attained notable
progress in income-poverty reduction since the beginning of the 1990s. Population below
absolute poverty line (by HCR-DCI method) declined from 47.5 per cent in FY92 to 44.33
per cent in FY001 .More importantly, the incremental growth had an anti poor bias, which
resulted in deterioration in income distribution. For example, between FY92 and FY00,
national income attributable to the poorest 10 per cent of the population declined further from
a miniscule proportion of 2.58 per cent to 1.84 per cent. Conversely, the control on the
national income by the richest 10 per cent of the population increased from 29.23 per cent to
40.72 per cent. In other words, the income differential between the poorest and the richest
increased from about 15.50 times to more than 22 times during the second half of the 1990s.

1.8 Savings

Bangladesh has one of the lowest domestic savings rates among the developing countries in
general and South Asian countries in particulars. Bangladesh's domestic savings performance
in the early 1990s was in fact paralleled the budgetary performance. The national savings rate
was more or less stagnated in the first period of 1990s, which represents a reversal of the
macroeconomic gains of that period. But the domestic savings rates were more remarkable in
that period. In FY91, the domestic savings rate was 18.23 per cent of GDP which was much
more higher than the average growth rate of the same period (14.12 per cent). The possible
reasons responsible for that scenario were weakening efforts for mobilization of public sector
resources and import liberalization, in the absence of a strengthening of domestic tax efforts
after FY91.

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 1.9 Investment

The official estimates show that the gross investment-GDP ratio increased steadily by more
than 4 percentage points between FY91 and FY95. The import boom witnessed in this period
can be perhaps attributed to a short-lived investment dynamism, coupled with large cuts in
import duty rates undertaken as part of import liberalization programmed.

2.0 Revenue Receipts

Weaknesses in the domestic resource mobilization effort have emerged as one of the major
structural constraints facing the Bangladesh economy in the 1990s. Though the share of
revenue (tax and non-tax together) in the GDP has increased from 7.08 per cent in FY91 to
10.87 per cent in FY04, nonetheless one observes a plateauing of the revenue-GDP ratio
since the mid-1990s (Figure IV). Thus the revenue receipts in Bangladesh, as a share of GDP,
is still lower than many developing countries. After the success of the early 1990s in revenue
earnings, the revenue mobilization process started to show signs of exhaustion. The success
of the early 1990s was greatly triggered by the introduction of VAT. The VAT provided a
bigger source of revenue compared to the taxes it replaced, mainly in respect of taxation of
domestic production. The dip in the second half of 1990s was largely predicated by the
devastating floods of 1998. Some recovery was observed in FY01, when the total revenue
collection recorded 9.60 per cent of GDP and increased to 10.87 per cent in FY04. Such a
feat was possible thanks to spectacular success in meeting the revenue collection target by
the NBR.

2.1 Public Expenditure

Two distinctive phases in the trend of total public expenditure growth may be discerned in
the Bangladesh economy during the 1990s. Public expenditures as a share of GDP
experienced a rise in the early 1990s from the benchmark level of 12.91 per cent in FY91 and
had hovered above 14 per cent during the mid-1990s. The said share once again started to
increase in the second half of the 1990s, recording its peak in FY01 (14.8 per cent). And in
FY04, public expenditure stagnates to 14.8 per cent of GDP and anticipates reaching 15.47
per cent in FY05. One important thing is to note that public expenditure-GDP ratio in
Bangladesh remains quite low compare to other neighboring countries where the said share is
around 20 per cent of GDP. For example, in India and Pakistan central government
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expenditure as a share of GDP (2002) are 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

2.2 Domestic Credit Expansion

Domestic credit expansion has been observed a rapid growth during the first half of 1990s
with an average of 9.31 per cent (from 7.25 per cent in FY01 to 17.56 per cent in FY95)
except 4.86 per cent growth rate recorded in FY94. It has been arrested after the mid-1990s
and brought down to 13.64 per cent at the end of the second half of 1990s, although a 14.69
per cent growth rate has registered in that period which is much more higher than the first
half. A moderate expansionary monetary policy was responsible for that higher average
growth rate of aggregate credit during the later part of the 1990s. It is also essential to be
noted that the growth rates of aggregate credit in the second half were consistently higher
compare to the first half. Domestic credit expansion has once again picked up in FY0
registering a growth rate of 17.65 per cent and brought down drastically to 9.48 per cent in
FY03 which decreased the average growth rate to 13.35 during FY01-FY03 compare to the
previous period. However, it is important to note that the annual growth rate of domestic
credit expansion in the government sector had been systematically higher throughout the
1990s than that of the private sector. For example, the average rate of growth in the
government sector during FY91-FY95 was 22.95 per cent as against about 10.89 per cent in
the private sector. During the second half of 1990s, the respective rates were 26.52 per cent
and 13.77 per cent correspondingly. The differential between the two sets of credit expansion
rate shows an opposite picture after 1990s registering, on average, a growth rate of 9.42 per
cent in the government sector and 15.40 per cent in the private sector respectively during
FY01-FY03. A negative growth rate (5.46 per cent) in the government sector in FY03 was
responsible for that remarkable change in the composition of domestic credit expansion. In
spite of the differential rates of growth, the private sector is maintaining its major share in the
total credit expansion, from 68.82 per cent, on average, during FY91-FY95 to 72.02 per cent
during FY01-FY03.

2.3 Government Borrowing

A high intensity of domestic credit expansion in the government sector during 1990s resulted
in a rising level of government borrowing from both the banking system and the public
through the use of savings instruments. In the first half of the 1990s, on average, the total
government borrowing was Tk. 52.44 billion which shows 21.38 per cent growth rate. The
total government borrowing stood at Tk. 117.84 billion in the second half of the decade with
an average growth rate of 24.80 per cent over the previous period. An accelerated level of

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government borrowing from the Bangladesh Bank as well as from the scheduled bank
subjected the macro-economic concerns since FY00. During this period one observes a
change in the fiscal stance of the government as it moved away, partly, from borrowing from
the banking system to raising of funds through sale of savings certificates to the public and
treasury bonds to non-bank financial institutions.

2.4 Inflation

A low rate of inflation is one of the cornerstones of macroeconomic stability of an economy.

The country has experienced a moderate rate of inflation under double digit throughout the
1990s. At the first half of the 1990s, the national inflation rate (moving average) was, on
average, 5.55 per cent, while the inflation rates for the abovementioned period for the urban
and rural areas were 5.05 per cent and 5.71 per cent respectively. The average inflation rate in
the latter half of the 1990s was somewhat high but under double-digit level. Even during the
flood year (FY99) the national inflation rate did not rise to double-digit level. Although the
rate remained under

Double-digit level, the inflation rate indicated an upward trend after FY97 just for two years.
But the rising trend in inflation during FY99 was corrected during FY00 as the moving
average rate came down to 3.41 per cent in June 2000 compare to 8.90 per cent in June 1999
because of a record aman harvest in FY00. As we observe that the average inflation rate for
the said period was 5.70 per cent in the national level. For the rural and urban areas, the rates
were 6.79 per cent and 6.11 per cent respectively. The increasing trend of inflation rate had
been corrected since the beginning of new decade after 1990s. Such sustained low level of
inflation was dictated by lower food grain prices ensured by successive good harvests.
During the first three years of the new decade the average national inflation rate observed
3.03 per cent with very low level of food inflation rate at 2.38 per cent.

2.5 Foreign Aid

During the decade of the 1990s Bangladesh has undergone a historical structural
transformation from being an aid dependent to a trade driven country as a consequence of a
sharp rise in the importance of international trade relative to the flow of aid to the country. In
1990 export was 0.8 times that of aid disbursed; in the 2000 this has raised to 3.6 and it has
reached to 4.13 in FY03. Foreign aid commitment and disbursement in FY91 were $1715.2
million and $1663.4 million, respectively. At the end of the first half of 1990s (FY95),
although commitment was 17.66 per cent higher than FY91, the growth rate of disbursement
was very low (only 0.3 per cent). The beginning of the second half was more depressing for
overall foreign aid situation. Both foreign aid commitment and disbursement showed a
negative growth rate of 20.6 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. But they bounced back
with positive growth rate of 15.23 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively at the end of the
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second half. The positive growth rate of commitments and disbursement has continued in
FY03 when they were $2179 million and 1585 million respectively. The total outstanding
external debt of Bangladesh as of June 1995 was about $15.95 billion (41.8 per cent of GDP)
which has decreased by 1.4 per cent at the end of the 1990s. In FY03 7.8 per cent higher total
outstanding debt has observed compare to FY00.

2.6 Openness, Exports and Imports-

Openness is expected to affect exports and imports of goods and services. Imports are
expected to raise as the country increases its demand for foreign goods and inputs. The
import demand for intermediate and investment goods rises. Similarly, greater openness is
expected to increase exports as the country gets integrated in the world market and begins to
produce for it The regression confirms that when openness increases, real imports increase.
The coefficient on the openness variable is both positive and statistically significant at 1%
level. The coefficients on the real income variable of Bangladesh is positive as expected but
not statistically significant. For a low income country like Bangladesh it is unlikely that
increases in income lead to increase in imports. The terms of trade variable have an
unexpected negative coefficient but it is statistically not significant. The real exchange rate
variable has the correct sign but is statistically insignificant. In summary, we see that both
exports and imports increase with greater openness. This may seem obvious. However,
greater openness can result from just an increase in imports (or exports) and therefore does
not imply that both imports and exports increase.

2.7 End Era- The quantitative analysis undertaken in this study suggests that greater
openness has a favorable effect on economic growth of Bangladesh. Both real export and
imports have increased with greater openness. The effect of greater openness on the inflation
rate is inconclusive. Hence, we conclude that liberalization policy certainly improves export
of the country which eventually leads higher economic growth after 1990s.

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 Chapter 2

Present Situation of Bangladesh Economy

2.8 Overview- With a continued average economic growth nearly 7% in the last ten years
(2008-2018), Bangladesh now proudly stands as an emerging trade and investment
destination. The steady growth in export business, hard-working labor force and committed
entrepreneurs supported by the pro-business, pro-investment policies of the Government are
leading Bangladesh towards the line of global business competency. The country’s
unequivocal position for peace and harmony, regional stability, cooperation, economic
development through international and regional trade with its trade partners and an increasing
flow of remittance by expatriate Bangladeshis living across the world have helped the
country achieve and retain the impressive economic status. In FY 2017-18, GDP growth was
7.86 % and it is expected to grow around 8.25% in the FY 2018-19. A strong domestic
demand, high export growth and continued expansion of infrastructural facilities attributed to
the accomplishment of accelerated growth. International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World
Economic Outlook, 2018, has ranked Bangladesh as the 44th largest economy in the world in
terms of nominal GDP in 2017 and 32th in terms of purchasing power parity. The country
registered a gross domestic product of US$ 274 billion in FY 2017-18 while it was only
US$72 billion in 2005-2006. RMG is the main item of export of Bangladesh surpassed
US$34 billion in 2017-2018 and accounts to 83% of total exports. Remittances sent by
Bangladeshi expatriates totaled US$15 billion in 2017-18 financial year, also forms a very
important pillar of the country’s economy. The Foreign Exchange Reserve was US$ 32.94
billion in FY 2017-18.Bangladesh experienced a satisfactory FDI in last five years. World
Investment Report 2017 ranked Bangladesh 16th among 74 FDI-recipient countries with a
record US$ 2.34 billion FDI inflow in 2017. The real per capita income stands at US $ 1,752
in 2018 (in real terms). In Bangladesh, a strong middle class is close to 18 % of the entire
population. Due to emerging middle class and in general better income level of common
people, domestic demand is growing and that becomes an important driver of economic
activity. Bangladesh has now emerged as an important manufacturing base for textile
products, pharmaceuticals, finished leathers, light and medium industries, IT and
shipbuilding. While world trade was severely disrupted by the global recession in recent past
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with exports of most countries declining sharply, the export of Bangladesh shows satisfactory
growth. Bangladesh has emerged as the second largest exporter in the world apparel market
and is also doing exceedingly well in the exports of finished leathers and leather goods,
frozen foods, jute and jute goods, pharmaceutical products, light engineering products and
small ocean-going vessels. In 2017-18, Bangladesh posted US$ 40.2 billion export earnings,
while at the corresponding periods the country registered import bills of US$ 44.5 billion.
Most of the items in the import list are petroleum products, capital goods and industrial raw
materials. Bangladesh has also attained a satisfactory foreign currency reserves in recent
months which stands at US$33.41billion in the fiscal year 2017-2018.

2.9 World Economy - After the strong growth during 2017 and the first half of 2018, global
economy decelerated in the second half of 2018. According to World Economic Outlook
(WEO), April 2019 published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the escalation of
trade tension between the United States and China, loss of momentum in Europe and
uncertainty about Brexit raise the risks of global growth. Global growth reduced at 0.2
percentage point in 2018 compare to 2017 and it is estimated that in 2019 it may decline
more 0.3 percentage points and reach at 3.3 percent. However, IMF forecasts that global
growth may be raised at 3.6 percent in 2020.Growth in advanced economies is projected to
slow from 2.2 percent in 2018 to 1.8 percent in 2019. This trend of economic growth is
disappointing for many countries. Specially, gradual softening of growth in the USA as fiscal
stimulus fades and downward revisions for the euro areas are too much unsatisfactory.
Growth in euro areas marked down because of weak industrial production following the
introduction of revised auto emission standards, uncertainty surrounding Brexit in the UK
and European Union and the trade conflict between the USA and China. Elsewhere activity
weakened in Japan largely due to natural disasters is also responsible for reduction of growth
in euro areas. Consumer price inflation reduced across advanced economies due to drop in
commodity prices. In advanced economies, inflation is expected to decline to 1.6 percent in
2019 by reducing 0.4 percentage point from 2018. In the USA economy, inflation is projected
to decline to 2.0 percent in 2019 from 2.4 percent in 2018. Core inflation rate (excluding
food and energy) of Japan is projected to rise by the end of 2020. Inflation for the emerging
market and developing economy group is projected to resume its steady decline after a
temporary modest rise this year. According to the IMF, the global growth may face further
downward revisions. Rising inequality, weak investment, rising protectionism in trade,
climate change and risk from cyber security are the main causes of these risks. However, the
growth will be stabilized at the end of this year if the downside risks do no materialize and
the policy support put in place become effective.

3.0 Macroeconomic Situation in Bangladesh- In spite of various national and international

adverse situations, Bangladesh has been able to continue her economic development and high
growth trend. According to the provisional estimate of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
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(BBS), GDP growth for FY2018-19 reached 8.13 percent. On the other hand, according to
final estimate in FY2017-18, the country’s growth rate was 7.86 percent. In FY2018-19 per
capita GDP increases to US$152 compare with the previous fiscal year and raises at
US$1,827. Likewise, per capita national income increased to US$1,909 in FY2018-19 from
US$1,751 in FY2017-18. Both public and private investment increased in FY2018-19 from
previous fiscal year. The total investment rose to 31.56 percent in FY2018-19, which was
31.23 percent in FY2017-18. In FY2018-19, public sector investment is 8.17 percent and
private sector investment is 23.40 percent of GDP. As a result of moderate food inflation, the
average inflation rate stood at 5.44 percent during July 2018 to March 2019. During this
period, food inflation declined to 0.46 percentage point (from 6.18 percent in July 2018 to
5.72 percent in March 2019). At the same time, non-food inflation increased to 0.8
percentage point. In FY2018-19, growth of revenue collection is at satisfactory level. In this
fiscal year revised target for revenue receipt was set at Tk.3,16,599.00 core (12.48% of
GDP). Out of this amount tax revenue from NBR sources was marked at Tk.2,80,000.00 core
(11.04% of GDP), tax revenue from non NBR sources at Tk.9,600.00 core (0.38% of GDP)
and non-tax revenue at Tk.27,000.00 core (1.06% of GDP). Against these targets as per the
provisional estimates of Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS++), in the first
eight months of the current fiscal (July-February 2019) total revenue receipt stood at
Tk.1,56,136.00 core. It is 49.32 percent of the revised target of total revenue receipt and
10.06 percent more than the same period in preceding fiscal year. In this amount tax revenues
received to Tk.1,38,275.00 core, up by 8.88 percent from the previous year. The amount of
non tax revenue raised to Tk.17,861.00 core, which is 20.15 percent more than the same
period of last fiscal year.

3.1 Sector-wise Economic Progress

(A.) Agriculture

In order to make Bangladesh self-sufficiency in food, agriculture has been given the highest
priority. The government is trying sincerely for developing agriculture sector in consideration
with 7th five-year plan, National Agriculture Policy and SDG. According to preliminary
estimate of BBS, It has been projected to produce food grain around 415.74 lakh metric tons
(MT.) in FY2018-19 which was 413.25 lakh MT in FY2017-18. In FY2018-19, total internal
procurement target of food grains is 21.81 lakh MT. Up to February 2019 of FY2018-19, in
total 2.11 lakh MT food grain was imported under government management. However, 35.66
lakh MT food grain (rice 0.85 lakh MT and wheat 34.81 lakh MT) have been import through
private sector during this period. In current fiscal year, the government has fixed to distribute
Tk.21,800.00 core as agricultural loan has been disbursed and up to February 2019, a total of
Tk.12,101.04 core has been distributed which is 55.51 percent of the target. An amount of
Tk.9000.00 core has been allocated in the revised budget of FY2018-19 to provide subsidy

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on fertilizer and other agricultural inputs. It has been estimated to produce 43.81 lakh MT
fish from internal water resource and from sea in FY2018-19. In FY2018-19, (up to February
2019) 99.31 lakh doses of livestock vaccines and 14.87 core doses of poultry vaccines have
been produced.

(B.) Industry

Apart from creating jobs in the country, the government has considered industrialization as a
more important sector to accelerate sustainable economic development. According to initial
estimation of BBS, in FY2018-19 the contribution of industry sector to GDP is 35.14 percent.
In order to accelerate the pace of industrialization of the country the government announced
the ‘National Industrial Policy-2016’. This policy will create women's productive
employment opportunities and bring women to the mainstream of the industrialization
process. It also plays a vital role in poverty alleviation. It has been expressed in the industrial
policy that special steps will be taken for the development of women entrepreneurs and the
promotion of cottage industries, small and medium industries. The EPZs play a special role
in the development of the industrial sector by attracting domestic and foreign investment.
Investment and exports of the EPZs are gradually increasing.

(C.) State-Owned Enterprises

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) play an important role in national production, value

addition, employment generation and revenue earning. The contribution of SOEs is very
important especially in power and energy, transport, communication and service sector.
During FY2017-18, the total operating revenue of all existing nonfinancial SOEs was Tk.1,
74,361.14 core. However, factoring into the production cost, the amount of value addition
reduced to Tk.19, 375.24 core during FY2017-18 which was Tk.23, 255.69 core in FY2016-
17. In FY2018-19 (up to 30 April 2019), the SOEs made a net loss of Tk.4,324.75 core .On
the other hand, the SOEs that earned profit contributed Tk.1,111.82 core to the national
exchequer during the same period. According to the estimation of Finance Division, the total
Debt Service Liabilities (DSL) stood at Tk.2, 14,561.44 core up to December 2018 in
FY2018-19. Up to January 2019, outstanding state owned commercial bank loan against 30
SOEs stood at Tk.39, 834.58 core. Out of this, the classified loan stood atTk.111.66 core. The
net profit on operating revenue was 2.97 percent in FY2017-18. The rate of dividend on
equity decreased to1.41 percent in FY2017-18. Considering the turnover of assets, the
efficiency of resource utilization during FY2017-18 remained unchanged compared to the
level of efficiency in the previous fiscal year.

(D.) Power and Energy

At present 93 percent people of the country are under electricity coverage. During FY2018-

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19 the total installed electricity generation capacity stood at 18,079 MW, which is 21,169
MW including captive and renewable energy. Up to February 2019, the highest generation
was 11,623 MW. In FY2017-18, the net electricity production was 62,678 million kWh. In
the first seven months of FY2018-19 (up to January 2019) the production stood at 41,125
million kWh. The total system loss in transmission and distribution of electricity reduced
substantially to 10.90 percent in FY2018-19 (up to December 2018) from 15.73 percent in
FY2009-10. 71 percent of the country's total commercial consumption of energy is met by
natural gas. Until June 2018, about 15.94 trillion cubic feet of gas has been produced from 27
discovered gas fields. At present, recoverable net stock is 11.92 trillion cubic feet. In
addition, the country has a reserve of about 13.27 MT fuel. In order to secure long term
energy supply of the country the highest emphasis is given on the diversification of energy
sources, particularly on the efficient and best use of energy.

(E.) Transport and Communication

The government implements different projects on transport and communication sector as

priority basis. The construction and reconstruction / rehabilitation of road/bridge /culvert is
being adopted and implemented. Until February 2019, the total length of road in the country
is 21,569 km. Furthermore, Padma Bridge, Dhaka Elevated Express way and some other
mega-projects are being implemented by Bridges Division. In order to operate Railway as an
environment-friendly, safe, affordable and dependable means of transport various
development programs have been undertaken and implemented. At present, total length of
railway is 2,955.53 km. The government has been implementing various programs and
projects for development and maintenance of navigability of different river routes. In
addition, the government works for ensuring safe movement of water crafts, development of
inland river ports, creating infrastructure facilities to carry container goods in inland
waterways and so on. About 92 percent international trade is happening through Chattogram
seaport. Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited is conducting 7 national and 15 international
flights in different routes. In FY2017-18, Biman has carried 25.88 lakh passengers and
30,972 tons of cargo. Various measures have been undertaken by the government with a view
to modernizing, developing and expanding telecommunication system of the country. The
total number of mobile phone subscriber is 15.75 core in January 2019. Keeping consistency
with the targets of SDGs and 7th Five Year Plan, the government has undertaken various
initiatives to expand information technology.

(F.) Human Resource Development

Along with the economic growth, the government has included HRD as one of the main
goals of its development agenda. To achieve this goal the government has allocated 22.09
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percent of budget to the HRD related sectors, such as-Education and Technology, Health and
Family Welfare, Women and Children, Social Welfare, Youth Sports development, Culture,
Labor and Employment and so on. Various programs including the adoption of the ‘National
Education Policy, 2010’ have been undertaken to create skilled and competent Human
Resources for the country by ensuring admission to all tiers of education. Due to the
government’s policy for recruiting 60 percent female teachers in the government primary
schools, at present 64.18 percent primary teachers are female. Programs. For this reason, the
scope and allocation of social safety-net programs are being extended every year. Bangladesh
follows the life cycle approach of social safety-net program with a view to bringing efficient
and effective implementation of this allocation. For this purpose, Bangladesh has already
formulated ‘National Social Security Strategy (NSSS)’. A total of Tk.64,176.48 core has been
allocated against social safety-net program in FY2018-19 national budget, Currently, the
government is working for acquiring poverty and hunger related targets to the SDGs. The
government has fixed up the target to deduce poverty rate at 9.7 percent and malnutrition rate
less than 10 percent by 2030. Different government and nongovernment institutions.

(G.) Health

Bangladesh has achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) related to health sector,
prior to the stipulated time due to undertaking many priority based programs in health,
nutrition and population sector. In this regard, Bangladesh has won ‘UN South Award’ twice.
Both fertility and mortality rates have come down. Remarkable progress has been made in
reducing child and maternal mortality and in increasing average life expectancy. Malnutrition
has also been reduced significantly. Currently, Bangladesh is working hard for achieving
health sector related goal and targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bangladesh
is gradually improving in the Human Development Index (HDI). According to the ‘Human
Development Report, 2018’ the position of Bangladesh was 136th .among 189 countries.

(H.) Poverty Alleviation

Bangladesh has achieved an outstanding development in poverty alleviation during last

decade because of successive nonstop endeavors of the government. The rate, incidence as
well as depth of poverty have been dropping gradually. Poverty rate declined 18.2 percentage
points within an era. It was 40 percent in 2005 and has reduced to 21.8 percent in 2018 as a
result of efficient implementation of different government and non-government development
programs. According to the 7th Five Year Plan, it has been targeted to reduce poverty rate at
18.6 percent by 2020.In order to attain the desired target of poverty alleviation, the
government provides special priority in social safety-reprograms. For this reason, the scope
and allocation of social safety-net programs are being extended every year. Bangladesh
follows the life cycle approach of social safety-net program with a view to bringing efficient

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 and effective implementation of this allocation. For this purpose, Bangladesh has already
formulated ‘National Social Security Strategy (NSSS)’. A total of Tk.64,176.48 core has been
allocated against social safety-net program in FY2018-19 national budget, Currently, the
government is working for acquiring poverty and hunger related targets to the SDGs. The
government has fixed up the target to deduce poverty rate at 9.7 percent and malnutrition rate
less than 10 percent by 2030. Different government and nongovernment institutions,
autonomous bodies are carrying out various activities including providing microcredit to
accomplish the government’s efforts of poverty reduction.

(I.) Private Sector Development

The government is working for the overall development of investment environment in order
to increase domestic and foreign investment which relates to development activities. Now,
the government is implementing different development projects under Public-Private
Partnership (PPP) model along with individual projects under government and private
finance. In FY2017-18, the investment proposal for 1,643 private projects were of Tk.2,
07,292 core. On the other hand, up to February of the current FY2018-19, the proposal stood
at Tk.90, 854 core for 1,022 private projects. In 2018 (January-September), total gross
amount of US$2,937.12 million flowed as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country
which was US$2,151.56 million in 2017. Bangladesh has achieved stable credit rating by
Moody's (Ba3) and S&P (BB-) for the ninth consecutive time. The government undertakes
the schemes for the development of information and communication technology and provides
proper support both to the public and private sector in this regard.

(J.) Environment, Climate Change and Development

Despite various environmental problems, the government of Bangladesh is working

relentlessly to create a pollution free and eco-friendly country. The government is
implementing ‘Vision 2021’ incorporating the environmental development as one of the most
important goals. Furthermore, a detailed work plan has been formulated with a view to
achieving environmental targets of SDG’s. ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action
Plan, 2009 (BCCSAP 2009)’ is being implemented to address the impact of climate change
where both adaptation and mitigation activities have been considered. For this reason,
‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF)’ has been formed with national resources.
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 Moreover, the government has enacted ‘Climate Change Trust Fund Act, 2010’ and ‘Climate
Change Trust Fund Guidelines’ for better management of BCCTF. Apart from this
‘Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF)’ has also been formed with the
assistance of Development Partners. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change has also undertaken different consciousness programs and restructuring activities for
environment conservation along with Ozone Layer Protection and Pollution Control. The
Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief is also implementing various programs in order
to tackle eventualities emanating from natural disasters.

3.2 Summary of background

Review of economic events and outcome of the same for Bangladesh economy during 2019 can
be made systematically, beginning from the global through macro to micro economics contexts.
The following appraisal adheres to that template, using figures from different sources. Globally,
no major setback was suffered by Bangladesh economy during 2019 on a sustained basis,
inflicting irreparable damage. This may be attributed to the limited degree of globalization
effected by Bangladesh economy till now. But some headwind stemmed from slowed-down
export and import growth due to shrinking global economic growth. The reverberation of
destabilization caused by President Trump's unilateral trade policy contributed to the turbulence
in global economy, affecting Bangladesh exports to some extent. Loss of market to competitors
with greater comparative advantage, particularly in garment manufacturing, could also have
played its part in whatever decline in exports took place during the year under discussion.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), exports from Bangladesh declined by 7.6
per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal while imports dropped by 3.20 per cent
during the same period. The World Trade Organization (WTO) projected that global trade
volume would have shrunk by 2.60 per cent in 2019.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its update on global economy estimated that global
growth during 2019 would have receded to an extent that would be the weakest pace since the
2008 financial meltdown. Trade tensions arising from Trump Administration's tariff impositions
on China and Europe contributed to shrinking of global trade, according to experts. The fallout of

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this turmoil could have impacted on Bangladesh exports, including garments. The global context
appears to be becoming more relevant to Bangladesh economy's performance at present
compared to the past.

On the macro-economic front the growth of the economy has maintained its upward trend
clocking 8.13 per cent according to projection made by BBS which has been corroborated by
Asian Development Bank (ADB). Deductions from this growth rate by World Bank and IMF are
not large enough to call for drastic deduction of the growth rate projected by BBS.

Strong remittance in flow during the period under review has cushioned the fall of export
earnings. Inflow of remittance jumped around 23 per cent in the first four months of the current
fiscal. Remittance earnings stood at $20 billion at the end of 2019 being boosted by depreciation
of Taka and cash incentives given at the rate of 2.0 per cent of remitted amount. Though some
migrant workers had to return from Saudi Arabia this did not make much of a dent in the
remittance inflow as over 600 thousand (6.0 lakh) new migrant workers went abroad far
outweighing the number of returning migrant workers.

The state of the Bangladesh economy during 2019 judged by the performance with reference to
global, macro and micro levels presents a mixed picture. The positive aspects of performance
have been buffeted by equally strong factors in the macro and micro economic spheres. This
deserves special mention because these are within the remit of intervention the government.
Even the global context of exports is amenable to change by government policies, however
incremental it may be.

The review of the performance of Bangladesh economy at the end of 2019 gives the
impression of the economy being on a knife's edge, poised between sustained growths and
muddling through uncertainly. It will be interesting to see which direction the economy takes
during 2020.

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 Chapter 3

The Future of Bangladesh Economy

3.3 OVERVIEW

Bangladesh’s economy will make one of the biggest jumps between 2020 and 2034 on the back
of demographic dividend and rising per capita income, according to the World Economic League
Table 2020.Bangladesh ranks 40th among 193 countries this year and will rise to 25th in 2034, a
spot currently held by Belgium, showed the latest edition of the WELT, produced by London-
based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), an international economic
forecaster. In the long run, the report said, many Asian economies will rise through the ranks of
the WELT as these countries cash in on their demographic dividends.

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The two most prominent examples are the Philippines, which will enter the top 25 largest
economies reaching 22nd place in 2034, and Bangladesh, it said. With a purchasing power parity
adjusted GDP per capita of $5,028 in 2019, Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country. The
economy performed well in 2019, expanding by an impressive 7.8 percent. This is, however,
below the 7.9 percent GDP growth rate recorded in 2018. In Bangladesh, the population has risen
at a rate of just 1 percent per year since 2014. This has meant that per capita incomes have grown
considerably in recent years. Government debt as a share of GDP rose to 34.6 percent last year,
up from 34 percent in 2018. Despite the increase, the public sector finances remain in good
shape. The relatively low debt burden has provided the government with the fiscal headroom to
operate a budget deficit of 4.8 percent in 2019. The annual rate of GDP growth is forecast to
slow to an average of 7.3 percent between 2020 and 2025. Over the subsequent nine years, the
CEBR forecasts that the economy will remain at this impressive rate, which will see Bangladesh
climb from 40th place in the WELT to 25th place by 2034. Three rapidly growing Asian
economies are the fastest risers in the table amongst the larger economies: the Philippines,
Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

3.4 Procedures

Bangladesh had a GDP growth of 7.86 per cent in the last fiscal. This is welcome news as this
performance is the resultant effect of all activities & performances by the nation. The global
credit ratings of Bangladesh have also been impressive. Moody's rating for Bangladesh has been
at Ba3 since 2010 till 2017. This rating applies to both foreign & local currencies. S&P rated
Bangladesh as BB (Stable) & BB-for foreign and local currency in the long term. Fitch has
assessed Bangladesh at BB-(stable) from 2011 till 2029 for both local & foreign currencies in the
long term.

The average life expectancy of people in Bangladesh has increased to 72 years seven months.
The life expectancy for women is 73 years five months while for men, it is 70 years six months.
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It is much better than India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Mortality rate in 2018 in Pakistan was
73.82, Bangladesh 32.49 and India 39.89. Foreign currency reserve of Bangladesh is now at
around US $ 34 billion. India is struggling with a depleting reserve while Pakistan has a reserve
which is less than $ 10 billion. The power sector has been performing well as the installed
production capacity is over 16,000 MW now. Around 80 per cent of the population has access to
electricity. At least 52 power projects are in the pipeline, which once completed can add another
18,415 MW to the production capacity. Once these projects are complete, more people in
Bangladesh will have access to electricity. The government is working and planning on more
projects which will lead to a total production capacity of 60,000 MW by 2050.

Bangladesh is doing well in other areas as well, be it sports, domestic politics, Rohingya issue or
anything else related to the country.
HSBC has prepared the outlook on 75 economies of the world. It observed that the emerging
economies will account for roughly 50 per cent of world GDP-- a seismic shift from half of it in
2000, it added. China will continue to be the single biggest contributor to global growth but five
other Asian countries will be among the world's top six fastest growing economies. These are,
Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam. HSBC's long-term growth model
projections for real GDP growth also showed that Bangladesh is on top of the five fastest-
growing economies in Asia. The rest of the countries included India, the Philippines, Pakistan
and Vietnam. The country is projected to grow above 7.0 per cent annually through 2030.

As per the projection, Bangladesh is the only country to maintain 7.0-plus growth rate annually
up to 2030 and even beyond. India is projected to maintain 6.0-plus growth rate but not 7.0
during the period reviewed by the report.

3.5 Risk

The risk areas for Bangladesh are also noted in it. It said that Bangladesh is set to make a
remarkable progress on the economic front. It is also one of the top five countries projected to be
the most vulnerable to environmental disaster and climate change. Surprisingly, Bangladesh is
among four of the top six countries for projected growth, including India, Pakistan and the
Philippines. Together these four countries top a list of 67 countries that the ESG analysts of the
report estimated to be most vulnerable to climate change.

In terms of sectorial development, education and health have received the most importance in
Bangladesh. The gender equity is also a priority. The GDP growth has been stable after getting
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out of the 6.0 per cent growth trap, despite vivid evidences of deplorably persistent bad
governance. Application of laws is not same for all income strata of people in Bangladesh.
Accountability & transparency are still a far cry. Corruption is the root cause in all sectors which
hinders the application of law on the privileged. In the street, law enforcers and government
officials can be seen moving on the wrong side of the road and violating other rules. They run
vehicles without papers and valid documents like licenses & route permits. Such approach from
them should not be the practice.

Moreover, lack of respect for law and effect thereof creates the tendency to be non-compliant.
Corruption is ever-present in government offices. No individual segment of the society is fully
directed towards total national interest. Despite these limitations, people-driven developments
have taken place in the country putting it in the Middle Income Country (MIC) cluster.
Bureaucracy has always been a barrier. The country is still struggling for a people-oriented
bureaucracy. Still, government machinery is dependent and guided by the bureaucrats. Quality
wisdom in running the state is the need of the time. This is required to holistically imbibe the
political manifesto of the elected government.

Following the liberation war in 1971, Fidel Castro while visiting Dhaka had asked the then PM
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that how the war ravaged country is being guided in post
liberation by a bureaucracy that had worked with occupation forces during the war?
Bangabandhu had replied that everybody belonged to Bangladesh. This response was more
emotional than realistic. As a result, political philosophy of the government gets lost in
bureaucracy.

3.6 Results

All these are offset by peoples' aspirations for progress. The per capita GDP of Bangladesh has
been a unique indicator which is uniformly on the rise. It is stable and steadily rising. It was US$
318 in 1972. In 2017/18, it rose to $ 1,751 per capita. The purchasing power parity in 2018 was
at $ 4,571.The journey to MIC and beyond is now on a stable course. Bangladesh has met all
three conditions required to be recognized as MIC, when two out of three were the prerequisites.
Now democracy and development should go hand in hand. In between Eastern and North-East
India, China on the west and South-East Asia, Bangladesh merits the attention of global and
Indian business as a seamless economic space. We can serve as the economic hub for the sub-
region. Beyond our own 162 million people, Bangladesh can be the connecting landmass to a
combined market of nearly 3 billion people.
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3.7 Conclusions

We are continuously learning in our journey towards development with our confident people,
able leadership and governance. Bangladesh offers you a stable and humanitarian state, where
leadership is responsive and responsible. That’s coupled with sound macro-economic
fundamentals - and our pragmatic and open economy shall continue to set global trends and the
example of a peaceful and progressive nation. Bangladesh is ranked 29th among 42 countries in
the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is well below the regional and world averages.

HSBC predicted that Bangladesh would be the 26th-largest economy in the world, by 2030. Two
things are key: one is our open society, religious harmony, liberal values and secular culture. The
other is that two-third of our homogenous population is young – mostly under 25. They are
quickly skill-able, adaptive to technologies, and ready to engage at competitive wages.

Bangladesh has made steady albeit incremental progress toward greater economic freedom
during the past five years. Although its economy has remained stuck in the mostly unfree
category, its GDP growth during the same period has been robust. A welcoming attitude toward
foreign investment and restraint on the growth of government may partially explain the
discrepancy.

For Bangladesh finally to break into the ranks of the moderately free, the government would
have to make a sustained, multiyear effort to improve the three rule-of-law indicators and permit
the entry into the country of more international banks and the best practices they would bring
with them.

3.8 Reference

 https://www.researchgate.net/

 https://www.bdhcottawa.ca/economy-and-trade/overview-of-bangladesh-economy

 https://mof.portal.gov.bd/

 https://www.nordeatrade.com/fi/explore-new-market/bangladesh/economical-context

 https://www.weforum.org/

 https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/

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 https://owl.purdue.edu/

 https://www.heritage.org/index/country/bangladesh

 https://www.thedailystar.net/business/bangladesh-economy-be-25th-largest-in-15-years-
1849591

 https://cpd.org.bd/wp

 https://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

 https://www.worldbank.org/

 https://www.statista.com/statistics/438219/gross-domestic-product-gdp-in-bangladesh/

 https://tradingeconomics.com/bangladesh/gdp-growth

 https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Cover-Story/The-rise-and-rise-of-Bangladesh

 http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/241418

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