Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said the country’s economic growth would stand at 6.12% in the current fiscal year.
The figure announced more than one month ahead of ending the fiscal on June 30 beats the forecasts earlier made by the economists and donor agencies. They predicted growth will be below 6% due to political unrest in the run up to the January 5 general election.
The planning minister said per capita income would increase from $1,044 to US$1,190 in the fiscal 2013-14.
He declared the GDP growth figure while briefing the outcome of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in Dhaka.
The minister’s declaration is higher than Bangladesh Bank’s projection of around 6%, the World Bank’s 5.7%, ADB’s 5.6% and International Monetary Fund’s 6%.
About the implementation of the annual development programme (ADP), Kamal said the rate of implementation for the current fiscal year is 55%.
At the Ecnec meeting, the government approved expansion of power distribution network through 39 Palli Bidyut Samities across the country.
The project titled “Strengthening the Distribution System of Rural Electrification” will cost over Tk5,198 crore.
With this enhancement of electricity transmission network in the rural areas, a total of four development projects worth Tk6,386 crore were approved at the meeting, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
“Under the power distribution network project, system loss during power distribution would be reduced by 2.5% through strengthening the distribution network in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions,” Kamal told newsmen after the meeting.
He said distribution network of 39 Palli Bidyut Samities would be strengthened through increasing their capacities by 1840 MVA (mega volt ampere).
The distribution system of rural electrification would require a cost of Tk5,198.33 crore, of which, the government will provide Tk1,293.33 crore and Tk3,705 crore will come as project assistance and concerned organisations will contribute Tk200 crore. Rural Electrification Board (REB) will implement the project scheduled by June, 2020.
Of the total outlay of four projects, the government will provide Tk1,843.47 crore from the national exchequer while Tk4,317.15 crore will come as project assistance and concerned organisations will contribute Tk225.45 crore from own sources, according to the minister.
The ECNEC approved another project titled “Installation of Wireless Broadband Network for Digital Bangladesh” involving Tk956.84 crore to ensure broadband internet at a cheaper rate for all.
Government will provide Tk344.69 crore from the national exchequer and rest Tk612.15 crore would come as project assistance.
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) will implement the project by June, 2017.
Under the project, two core networks will be set up in Dhaka while 300km optical fibre will be laid in seven divisional headquarters, districts and upazila levels with the installation of 670 base transceiver stations (BTSs).
The planning minister said the project will expand the ICT related services through ensuring high speed Internet.
The ECNEC also approved projects including “Construction of Divisional and District Shilpakala Academy” involving Tk193.97 crore and Uttara Lake Development Project at Tk37 crore.
