Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has been named the ‘Finance Minister of the Year 2020’, according to international financial affairs publication The Banker.
The recognition came Thursday from the reputed monthly magazine ‘The Banker, a publication of the
UK-based globally renowned ‘The Financial Times Group’.
The Banker magazine has been published since 1926, which is known as the world’s banking sector intelligence. They have been giving the ‘Finance Minister of the Year’ award since 2004.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal dedicated the award to the people of the country, saying that he achieved this rare honor following the path shown by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to the magazine, Mustafa Kamal took on the role of Bangladesh’s finance minister in January 2019 with the aim of building up the country’s economy by opening it up to foreign investment.
The country has already seen an impressive rate of economic growth in recent years, reaching 8 percent over the past two years, while the county was ranked 41st in the ‘Centre for Economics and Business Research’s World Economic League Table 2019’ global rankings, it has forecast that Bangladesh will become the 24th largest economy in the world by 2033.
“After attaining an economic growth rate of more than 7 percent for three consecutive years, Bangladesh achieved an 8.15 percent growth rate in the fiscal year 2019. The country also made a remarkable progress in the improvement of socio-economic indicators such as poverty reduction, health, education and women empowerment,” says Kamal.
To achieve the consistent 7 percent or above growth rate needed to hit this target requires the country to rethink how it operates. Kamal has been instrumental in attracting international support for the country by pushing for greater levels of foreign direct investment.
Turkey has been highlighted as a location for increased investment with the electronics, medicine and gas industries all positional as presenting opportunities. He has also looked to attract more investment from Japanese companies, promising to assist them with issues around VAT, tax and policy.
Support is also forthcoming from the development banks. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank pledged to continue supporting Bangladesh with Kamal outlining projects covering energy, connectivity and social development-with a specific focus on education- being the key targets for support in the coming years.
Taking Bangladesh into the capital markets for the first time is another of Kamal’s ambitious moves. The first ever taka-denominated bonds were issued in November 2019, and the Bangla bond was launched at the London Stock Exchange and issued through the International Finance Corporation.
