News Desk :
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said the per capita foreign debt of Bangladesh citizens is now Tk 24,890.
The minister revealed this information in parliament while replying to a tabled question from Awami League MP Didarul Alam from Chittagong-4.
The finance minister said the current foreign debt now stands at US dollar 49,458 million.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, the total population of the country is 169.31 million. And, in that context, the per capita foreign debt is now 292.11 dollars. If one dollar is equivalent to Tk 85.21, it stands at Tk 24,890, the minister said.
Replying to another query from Didarul Alam, he said the amount of loan agreements with various development partner countries and institutions as of June 30 is $ 95,908.34 million.
Of the total amount, $59,458 million have been disbursed while $46,450.34 million are under the process of disbursement, he said.
Earlier, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while chairing separate meetings in May on the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) had expressed hope that the economy of Bangladesh would do much better in the coming days despite the impacts of COVID-19.
He also said, Bangladesh would remain in the top position in Asia in terms of macroeconomic attainments at the end of outgoing fiscal year (FY21). “We’ll do much better in the coming days. Insha Allah.
The Minister said that the challenges ahead of the government are many. “But, we always consider the challenges as our opportunities. History in the economy indicates that challenges come up with a lot of opportunities and we also think in that way.”
Kamal said that all the major macroeconomic indicators were witnessing uptrend at the end of the outgoing fiscal
year adding although many have voiced concerns over the attainments of Bangladesh. “But, we’ve been able to achieve many things due to the timely decisions from our government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Highlighting some of the latest major macroeconomic attainments, he informed that the revenue collection has now witnessed a growth of 17 percent, export earnings witnessed a growth of almost 14 percent, the foreign currency reserves is nearing $46 billion, the inward remittance flow has reached around $25 billion which was $18 billion last year. “These achievements were possible due to the resilient nature of our people,” he said at that time.
