Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Bangladesh has demonstrated resilience amid global headwinds and domestic challenges at the annual World Bank and IMF spring meeting in Washington, DC on Saturday.
“The preliminary estimate of real GDP growth in Bangladesh is 7.1% in FY2016-17 and 7.2% in FY2017-18,” he said.
Jaitley said the recent decline in remittance reflects a combination of global and local factors, but mainly driven by weaker economic activity in the Middle East, which is expected to recover as oil prices stabilise and manpower exports from Bangladesh increase.
“Bangladesh Bank has taken some measures to reduce costs of sending remittance through the formal channels,” he said.
Jaitley praised the initiatives taken by the Bangladesh government to improve business climate and ease infrastructure bottlenecks, by developing special economic zones which should bolster investment in both private and domestic sectors creating more jobs and raise productivity.
Noting that the country’s stance on the monetary policy will continue to remain prudent, and the authorities remain vigilant against upside risks to inflation, Jaitley said excess liquidity in the banking system has been declining in recent months as credit growth has picked up.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
