Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the economic condition of Bangladesh is very good and strong as the debt-to-GDP ratio is in a tolerable position.
He said, “The whole world is still saying that the economic condition of Bangladesh is very strong. Countries that have more debt than GDP are currently the most embarrassed. They are also in danger. Bangladesh is not in that danger. That's why we are not thinking about those aspects.”
The Finance Minister made the remarks while briefing reporters after the two consecutive meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) on Thursday.
A total of 10 proposals were approved at the CCPP meeting on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
The Finance Minister said that the CCPP meeting approved a total of 10 proposals involving Tk 1,807.83 crore. Of this, Tk 979.62 crore will be spent from government funds and Tk 828.21 crore will come from foreign and local loans.
He said the proposals included three from the industry ministry, two from the road transport and highways department, one from the agriculture ministry, one from the water resources ministry, one from the housing and public works ministry, one from the shipping ministry and one from the bridges department.
Replying to a question on the latest crisis in Sri Lanka, he said, "As you well know, our foreign exchange reserves are very high. Revenue collection is increasing, exports are increasing. Inflation is also under control. So where is the problem? We have no problem. I think we're in the safe zone.”
“Bangladesh is in the safe zone in terms of receiving foreign loans,” he said, adding that Bangladesh's debt-GDP ratio is 34 percent which is the lowest in the world.
Kamal said the whole world is appreciating Bangladesh for its economic performance.
“The countries having debt higher than their GDP (gross domestic products) are currently in danger. But we are not at that level. Rather, our debt is much lower than GDP,” he mentioned.
Responding to another question, the Minister said that the toll rates of the Padma Bridge have not been fixed yet. But a joint venture of South Korea and China has been awarded a contract to collect the tolls from the Padma Bridge project.
"We didn't do any detailed work on it. But we have a plan to make some profits by collecting revenue from the Padma Bridge project in order to implement more similar projects", he said.
He said that both the government and the users of the Padma Bridge will benefit from the project.
“We hope we could collect more revenue than the requirements to meet its expenditures,” he added.
