Bangladesh economy
Bangladesh’s debt burden ‘set to surge further’
Bangladesh is going to plunge into a ‘newer depth of debt’, both from internal and external sources, in the coming days as it is spending additional money to salvage the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis.
So far, the government has announced a set of COVID-19 recovery packages worth 13.25 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 4.03 percent of the GDP, aiming to revitalise the country’s economic activities and production system.
The government has projected that the debt status of the country will be 38.3 percent of the total GDP in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
According to an official document, the amount will be Tk 15,480 billion where internal sources will contribute Tk 9597.8 billion, which is 62 percent of the amount, and external sources will contribute Tk 5882.6 billion, which is 38 percent.
The country’s debt status in 2021-22 fiscal will stand at Tk 13,531.5 billion which will be 37.8 percent of the total GDP. Of the amount, internal sources will contribute Tk 8408.6 billion, which is 62.1 percent of the amount, while external sources will contribute Tk 5122.9 billion, which is 37.9 percent.
In the current fiscal, the debt status stands at Tk 11,678.3 billion with 36.8 percent of the GDP. Internal sources are contributing Tk 7355.5 billion, which is 63 percent, and external sources are contributing Tk 4322.8 billion, which is 37 percent.
The total amount is 1.2 percent higher of the GDP from the revised debt status target of 2019-20 fiscal.
The revised status of the previous fiscal was Tk 9996.9 billion and it was 35.6 percent of the GDP. Internal sources injected Tk 6235.8 billion, which was 62.4 percent, while external sources gave Tk 3761.1 percent, which was 37.6 percent.
Bangladesh economy relatively in good shape: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said Bangladesh’s economy is more or less in a good shape now although the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to it as elsewhere in the world.
"We’ve announced our budget…don’t know how long we can do it (for implementing the budget), but we’ve to take our preparations. If things go well, we’ll be able to achieve the full. If it’s not, then we’ll see…we won’t step back. We placed our budget to keep our economy moving," she said.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing a meeting of Awami League presidium members at her official residence Gabobhaban.
She said Bangladeshi expatriates are facing some difficulties due to the COVID-19 and some of them have to return home.
Sheikh Hasina said many feared that the remittance will experience a setback in this pandemic, but it showed the opposite trend.
"Our remittance inflow has increased. It’s now USD 39.4 billion. We’re giving two percent special incentive for sending remittance….and our foreign currency reserve is now in a good shape as well," she said.
In the budget, Hasina said, the government fixed its deficit at 6 percent. In the last few years, the budget deficit was fixed at five percent. "We would have made it 10 percent had it needed. But it didn’t require..."
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GDP growth to slide to 2.5pc: CPD
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), one of the country’s leading think tanks, on Sunday projected a GDP growth rate of 2.5 percent - the lowest in almost 30 years - for the Bangladesh economy in the 2019-20 fiscal, as most of the sectors contributing to GDP were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.