Business Desk :
“Even Bangladesh, the fastest growing economy in the region, has seen economic growth fall, from 8.4% in 2019 to 0.5% in 2020, although this was cushioned somewhat by a recovery in trade and remittances in the second half of the year,” the report highlighted
The United Nations (UN), in a hard-hitting report, has revealed that on a calendar year basis (started from January to December), Bangladesh’s economic growth has fallen dramatically from 8.4% in 2019 to just 0.5% in 2020. The report titled “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2021” released on 25 January by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) highlighted, “Even Bangladesh, the fastest growing economy in the region, has seen economic growth fall, from 8.4% in 2019 to 0.5% in 2020, although this was cushioned somewhat by a recovery in trade and remittances in the second half of the year.”
However, the UN report also presented the economic growth figures in terms of fiscal year (FY) basis where it mentioned Bangladesh’s economic growth is estimated to have decelerated to 4.3% in the fiscal year of 2019-20, and the country’s growth is projected to grow at 5.1% in FY 2020-21 and further 7.6% in FY 2021-22.
Along with the national estimate, global lenders such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have announced economic growth figures for Bangladesh on fiscal year basis which is started from 01 July to the next 30 June. Bangladesh government announced of achieving 5.2% growth in the fiscal year of 2019-20, World Bank estimated only 2.0%, IMF said 3.8% where ADB and The Economist Intelligence Unit relay on government estimation.
