Bangladesh economy continues to grow despite global economic slowdown and it remains robust compared to that of other countries in the region, says Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to the latest ADB report titled “Asian Development Outlook (ADO), 2022 update" released on Wednesday, Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 6.6 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2023.
Despite infrastructure bottlenecks and shortage of power in industry, country's major macroeconomic indicators like the growth rate of GDP has remarkably increased and Bangladesh has set a target to achieve 8.51 percent GDP growth by 2025. The existing policies implemented by the government over the last several years have been fruitful towards boosting the country’s economic growth. As a result of the government’s various endeavours, the pace of the country’s remittance inflow remarkably increased over the last several years.
While the latest piece
of news is encouraging,
the issue of inclusive growth
must not be ignored
We have reiterated our gratification over the robust growth our economy has achieved over the last decade. There is no denying that the country is speeding on the highway of economic growth, but beneath this optimistic picture there also lies the worrying side of it.
While the latest piece of news is encouraging, the issue of inclusive growth must not be ignored. The rich-poor divide has been growing over the past decade and the fruits of the robust growth have not trickled down to the masses at the expected level. Inequality of wealth between rich and poor has been on an ever-increasing trend. Reportedly, less than 10 percent of the total population own more than what the rest 90 percent does. Hence , in order to sustain the country’s economic growth and make it more inclusive, the government must take initiatives for creating more jobs both in the public and private sectors.
In Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of students pass out of colleges and universities with higher degrees every year but many of them remain unemployed. Boosting private sector investment can change this scenario and make the growth more meaningful. In order to shove Bangladesh to the next level of growth, private investment has to be promoted further.