The nation has kicked off talks with ratings agencies to lay the groundwork for a return to international debt markets
World Bank predicts 6.8% economic growth for Bangladesh
The World Bank has projected 6.8 percent GDP growth for Bangladesh, despite internal security challenges and sluggish global demand.
Published : 11 Jan 2017, 05:19 AM
Updated : 11 Jan 2017, 05:20 AM
The global lender posted the growth projections for the current financial year in its half-yearly report, Global Economic Prospects, on Wednesday.
After being restricted to 6 percent growth for about a decade, Bangladesh’s economy posted a 7.11 percent GDP growth in the 2015-16 fiscal.
The government set a 7.2 percent growth target for 2016-17 fiscal.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith was confident that the growth would not slip below 7 percent.
The World Bank did not fully agree with the government but has since somewhat moved away from its earlier scepticism.
The Global Economic Prospects from June said Bangladesh would not achieve 6.3 percent growth in 2016-17.
The forecast in January was 5 percentage points higher.
The World Bank in the report said private expenditure and investment were both suffering due to sluggish foreign currency flow.
It warned that weakening remittance and exports may lower economic growth to 6.5 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal.
Growth may suffer further if stabilising measures are not taken for revenue, financial and corporate sectors, it said.
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