Bangladesh will graduate from LDC bracket on time, says Finance Advisor Salehuddin

He calls on the businessmen of the country to join the push to transition Bangladesh into a developing country

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed is positive that Bangladesh will graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) bracket as scheduled in 2026.

Speaking at an event in Dhaka on Saturday, he said the matter has drawn a lot of attention lately, and insisted: “There's been a lot of discussion about whether we should graduate or not. But we decided that [we will] and we will go for it.

“We will do everything to prepare for that.”

Bangladesh is set to graduate from the LDC bracket, designated by the UN Committee for Development Policy, on Nov 24, 2026. The chief advisor recently instructed all relevant agencies to take prompt and co-ordinated steps to move Bangladesh to the developing nations category.

Salehuddin called on the business community to step forward to facilitate the transition.

"We will go faster, not slowly, because other countries have come a long way. Let us not get stuck in one place."

Bangladesh has been on the UN list of LDCs since 1975 and met the eligibility criteria for graduation in 2018, based on three indicators: per capita income, human asset development, and economic vulnerability.

The UN General Assembly, during its 76th session on Nov 25, 2021, recommended Bangladesh's graduation.

As a least developed country, Bangladesh enjoys duty-free and quota-free access to the European export market. If it upgrades into a developing country, these perks will no longer be available.