Despite a devastating impact of coronavirus on the world economy, Bangladesh economy has achieved a spectacular progress in 2021 due to the government’s time-befitting measures, experts said.
Another year has passed since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2019. Last year, Bangladesh completed 50 years of journey and has received the final announcement of the transition from LDC.
Bangladesh will move forward at a great pace, economists said, adding that the fear now is just a new variant of corona (omicron). Once it is handled efficiently, you do not have to look back, they mentioned.
“A special year, 2021 was the turning point of Bangladesh. It was the year to start moving forward by witnessing 50 years of courageous achievements in new ventures. Three major development projects including the Padma Bridge, Metrorail and Karnaphuli Tunnel will be launched between June and December of the new year,” Dr Atiur Rahman, former governor of Bangladesh Bank and eminent economist, told Bangladesh Post .
Bangladesh will enter a new era for accelerating economic development after 2022 as the projects may ensure sustainable infrastructure development, he added.
He said the government has been working hard with providing all-out support, including stimuli to different sectors, to activate the business activities amid Covid-19.
Moreover, record forex reserves in recent times, and positive export earnings in the last several months are creating new possibilities in trade and commerce, he added.
“As part of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's well-planned policy, the recent economic performance in exports and revenue earnings, and the government's macroeconomic management including securing foreign funds for economic stimulus and social protection, have made this recovery realistic,” Rahman further said.
However, when Bangladesh is celebrating the golden jubilee year of independence, Bangladesh is a role model of development in many respects, experts said.
Considering the development cycle, the remarkable achievements of Bangladesh's economy in the 50 years of independence have been achieved by very few countries in the world, they mentioned.
Reports from various international organizations, including the United Nations, and research institutes have given a clear idea of the magnitude of this enviable economic achievement, they said, adding that Bangladesh has become synonymous with prosperity there.
Apart from this, the triumph of development of Bangladesh can also be heard from economists and Specialists of different countries.
In the eyes of the United Nations, Bangladesh is now a developing country from the LDC status. As per the recommendation of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the 40th plenary meeting of the 7th session of the UN General Assembly on November 25 gave final approval to Bangladesh to become a developing country.
Through this, in November 2026, Bangladesh will be a fully developing country.
According to the UN ECOSOC criteria, a country needs to have a per capita income of at least $1,230 to become a developing country.
Bangladesh's per capita income is now $2,064 dollars. Although the human resource index needs 66 points, Bangladesh has achieved 72.09 points. The economic fragility index has to be 32 percent or less, while Bangladesh has 24.6 percent.
Recognition of Bangladesh's irresistible development has also come from the latest report 'World Economic League Table-2021' published by the Center for Economics and Business Research, a UK based economic research organization.
In the summary of this report, Bangladesh has been identified as the 41st largest economy in the world out of 196 countries in the 2020 index. Besides, it has been predicted that after the next 15 years, by 2035, Bangladesh will be the 25th largest economy in the world.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bangladesh is now the third fastest growing country.
According to the US agency Bloomberg, Bangladesh may be the country with the highest growth.
Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation's (HSBC) latest global research report titled 'The World in 2030: Our Long Term Projection for 75 Countries' states that Bangladesh's economy will grow by 16 steps from 2016 to 2030 in terms of location. Through this, Bangladesh will be the 26th largest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product (GDP).
According to a recent report by the World Bank, Bangladesh is doing better than South Asia and other low-income countries in 10 of the 12 major indicators of development.
However, in the outgoing year, the export sector was in the best position among the indicators of the economy. This indicator is increasing even in the midst of an epidemic. As the Corona situation improves, the pace increases further.
Mainly relying on garment exports, the export earnings have rapidly increased throughout the year.
The country’s export earnings in the fiscal year 2020-21 increased by 15.10 percent to $38.76 billion from $33.67 billion in FY20.
In the last five months in the current fiscal, about $20 billion dollars of export revenue poured into the country.
The earnings of $4 billion comes in the last month of the year 2021, the total export earnings will reach $45 billion, which will be the highest ever in the calendar year.
On the other hand, after the outbreak of coronavirus, the import of goods in the country has started flooding and is recorded every month.
In the last fiscal year, the import of goods was $65.60 billion, which was 19.71 percent more than that in the previous year.
The central bank has released data for four months (July-October) of the current fiscal. It shows that in these four months, various products worth $25.63 billion have been imported. This is about 52 percent more than that in the same period last year.
Despite the decline over the last few months, Bangladesh might receive more than $ 2.2 billion in remittances in the outgoing year, more than any other year in the history of Bangladesh.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has collected revenue of Tk 1.26 lakh crore during July-November of the current financial year, which is 15 percent more than that in the same period last year.
In the last financial year, NBR collected a total revenue of Tk 2,59,881 crore, which was 19 percent more than the previous year.
Dr Kazi Kholiquzzaman, Chairman of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and also an eminent economist, said, “There have been ups and downs of growth in countries around the world. Bangladesh in an exception. In the last two decades since independence, GDP growth averaged one percent per year compared to the previous year. It is a unique example in the world.”
Apart from this, there was a continuum of growth in the first three decades of victory in the War of Liberation, he mentioned.
At that time, an average of one percent extra growth was added every decade, he informed.
Ahmed said that after the independence of the country in the eighties, Bangladesh's GDP growth has been at an average rate of 3.6 percent.
“In the 90's it increased to 4.9 percent, in the zero decade GDP growth has been achieved at the rate of 5.8 percent. The average GDP growth rate for the next five consecutive years from 2010 is 6 percent and for the three consecutive years after 2015 it is 6 percent. In 2018-19, GDP growth accelerated to 8.20 percent, which continued until the global Corona infection hit, he mentioned.
Kholiquzzaman claims that the per capita income of the people has increased as a result of high economic growth.
The current per capita income of the people of the country has risen to $2,556, which was between $50 and $60 in the 70's after independence, he informed.
Moreover, the country's capital market has reached new heights during this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The DSE Broad Index (DSEX), the main price index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, rose by 1354.59 points or 25.08 percent, to 6,756.66 points in 2021.
In 2021, the DSEX rose to a high of 7368 points and a low of 5044.99 points. The journey of this index started on January 28, 2013, with 4,090.47 points.
Market capitalization of the DSE went up by 20.96 percent or Tk 93.966 crore to Tk 5,42,000 crore in 2021.
Before the lockdown imposed by the government, this fund declined by 6.28 percent or Tk 29749.91 crore to Tk 443345.80 crore on April 4 from Tk 473095.70 on March 4.
In 2021, the market capitalization reached a new high of Tk 5,86,000 crore and the minimum was Tk 4,43,000 crore.
Professor Abu Ahmed, capital market analyst, and an eminent economist, told Bangladesh Post, “The country's capital market is better than ever before."
The capital market now draws the attention of investors in 2021 as a big sector, it is the great success of the capital market, he added.
