Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh has recorded its lowest economic growth in last four years in past fiscal year of 2023-24 due to contractionary monetary and fiscal policies to tackle the dwindling forex reserves and high inflation, and energy supply disruption.
Country’s economy grew by 4.22 percent in the previous fiscal year, falling 1.6 percentage points short of the provisional estimate by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The final gross domestic product (GDP) figures, which measure the total value of goods and services produced in a year, the total GDP size was revised down to $450 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year from the provisional estimate of $459 billion, said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, speaks at a press briefing in Dhaka on Sunday.
Bangladesh previously recorded GDP growth of 3.45 percent in FY20 when the Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted economic activities.
The economy rebounded in the following year but began facing headwinds again from FY23.
Due to this revision, per capita income stood at $2,738 in FY24, down from the preliminary estimate of $2,784.
The economy faced such slowdown also caused by the erosion of people’s purchasing power amid persistent inflation, along with declines in exports and imports, and pressure on the country’s financial stability.
According to the quarterly data by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), between April and June (Q4) of FY24, the GDP grew only by 3.91 percent.
In Q3 FY24, the GDP grew by 5.42 percent, as per the latest release from BBS, down from the 6.12 percent announced by the previous Awami League government.
GDP growth reached to 6.04 and 4.78 percent respectively in Q1 and Q2, as per BBS data.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated Bangladesh’s GDP growth was 5.4 percent for last fiscal, while the World Bank projected 5.2 percent growth.
Bangladesh’s real GDP growth is estimated to have moderated in fiscal 2023-24 driven by weak consumption and export growth on the demand side said the WB in its “Bangladesh Development Update” released October, 2024.
Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) has kept its forecast for Bangladesh’s economic growth to 4.1 percent in FY25, citing subdued investment and industrial activity amid heightened political uncertainty.
