Bangladesh expects to make necessary improvements in three criteria of the United Nations in 2018 to become a middle income nation.
Finance Division has prepared a report with the forecast which is supposed to be placed at a meeting at Prime Minister’s
Office today.
The meeting on the achievement of lower middle income status will be presided over by PM’s principal secretary Abul Kalam Azad.
The report said the Committee for Development Planning (CDP) of the UN, which evaluates income status of countries across the world, would review Bangladesh’s income position on three criteria in 2018.
The UN’s CDP parameters are per capita national income, position of human asset and economic vulnerability. Bangladesh has only achieved the economic vulnerability target in the World Bank’s assessment so far.
Finance Division hopes that Bangladesh will improve in all three criteria in the year to become a middle income nation.
Bangladesh will then have to continue the improvement in two three-year reviews by the CDP to finally win the middle income status.
Finance Division hopes that Bangladesh will finally graduate to middle income country in 2021.
Bangladesh will present its becoming of lower middle income country from its low income status to the world when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attends the UN General Assembly meeting in September this year.
A fund may be allocated for this publicity purpose from unexpected expenditure budget, according to working papers of today’s meeting. This fund will be added to a sum of Tk3 lakh which PMO already has for advertisement purpose.
If this fund is not sufficient, Finance Division gave another option to the PMO requesting it to submit a programme proposal immediately on the publicity matter.
On July 1, the World Bank in a posting on its website said sustained economic growth over the past year has catapulted Bangladesh, Burma, Kenya and Tajikistan out of low-income status, which is defined as countries with a gross national income per capita (GNI) of $1,045 or less.