Staff Reporter :
Amid huge skepticism, Planning Minister MA Mannan on Tuesday announced that the per capita income has increased to $2,824 and the country’s economy has gone up by 7.25 per cent in the current financial year.
The per capita income in the country rose by 9 per cent year-on-year to $ 2,824 in 2021-22, according to data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
In local currency, the figures stood at Tk 241,470 in 2021-22 and Tk 219,738 the previous year.
The planning minister provided the provisional data at a press briefing after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.
Analysts said that the people’s income has been reduced due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and a huge number of people have fallen below the poverty line.
But, the government statistic agency is saying that the people’s per capita income has increased. Now the question is whose income has actually increased.
The per capita income rose to $2,824. In reality, it is not the income of every person in the country as per capita income is not a single individual’s income, they said.
They said the total national income of the country is the income from within the country as well as remittances and the income are calculated by dividing the national income by the population of the country.
As a result, even if the per capita income increases in the country, there is no difference in the income of the individual, they added.
On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund has projected that Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would increase at 6.4 per cent for the current fiscal year because of Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.
And the World Bank projected that Bangladesh’s economy would grow at 6.4 per cent in fiscal 2021-22 and 6.7 per cent in fiscal 2022-23.
The Asian Development Bank forecast that Bangladesh’s GDP would expand by 6.9 per cent in FY22 and 7.1 percent in FY23.
But, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed that the country’s economy has grown 7.25 per cent in the outgoing fiscal year of 2021-22, riding on an expansion of manufacturing activities.
In last fiscal year, analysts and economists were skeptical about 7 per cent GDP growth amid the pandemic, when most of the economic activities were nearly stagnated.
The economy began rebounding following the reopening from the on and off lockdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the highest ever growth of the economy since 2018-19 fiscal year when the GDP-a measure of the size of an economy- increased 7.88 per cent.
Bangladesh economy grew only 3.45 per cent in the fiscal year 2019-20, lowest since 2000, according to World Bank data. With the latest growth, size of Bangladesh’s GDP stands at $465 billion in 2021-22 fiscal year from $416 billion the previous year.
Dr Zahid Hussain, former led economist of the World Bank Dhaka office told The New Nation, “There are two sides-direction and number– in the GDP projection. Direction is right as all economical indicators like export-import, manufacturing are positive. But, there are some inconsistencies in number.”
“Firstly, most of the sectors are rebounding but the tough time is to be gone. Secondly, projected GDP growth was 7.2 per cent and the target and implementation are equals. It is quite impossible,” Zahid said.
Thirdly, the BBS data showed that energy production has not increased. Then, how was it possible the manufacturing growth, he said.
