Economic activity in Bangladesh has recovered more strongly than expected with both exports and remittances growing in
recent months, said the Asian Development Bank on Thursday.
In the first five months of the fiscal year that began in July, Bangladesh received 42.9 per cent higher remittance than a year earlier and about 1.5 per cent lower export receipts, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank and the Export Promotion Bureau.
But the road ahead is paved with risks for the second wave of COVID-19 in major export destinations, said the Manila-based lender in the December update of the Asian Development Outlook 2020.
And there are inflationary risks, too.
The average inflation in Bangladesh rose to 5.8 per cent in the first five months of fiscal 2020-21, hitting a seven-year high in October.
The ADB though kept Bangladesh’s growth outlook unchanged from its September update of 6.8 per cent for this fiscal year.
It however upgraded the growth forecast for South Asia, thanks to neighbouring India’s better-than-expected growth in the third quarter of 2020.
The earlier South Asia forecast for 6.8 per cent contraction is upgraded to 6.1 per cent in line with an improved projection for India, as recovery accelerates, from 9 per cent contraction to 8 per cent. Growth will return in 2021, at 7.2 per cent in South Asia and 8 per cent in India, the report added.
