State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam on Tuesday said that the country's economy is under control and in a comfortable zone while it is also getting vibrant amid the global shocks.
"The economy is getting vibrant and it is quite evident. The general point to point inflation is gradually coming down. So, I can say the economy is under control," he said.
The state minister said this while addressing the "DJFB Development Dialogue" as the chief guest held at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area today.
Presided over by Bangladesh Development Journalist Forum (DJFB) President Hamid Uz Zaman, its general secretary Shahanuare Shaid Shahin moderated the event.
Dr Alam said although the economic growth had slowed down slightly in the country during the pandemic, but it never derailed.
He also expressed his optimism about attaining 7 percent growth rate in the current fiscal year (FY23). "Although we've scope to increase further our revenue collection, but we've done comparatively well in economic management," the state minister added.
Dr Alam said that many had voiced their concerns that Bangladesh could experience situation like Sri Lanka. "But, we had always said that Bangladesh would not experience such situation as our macroeconomic parameters are authentic while the socio-economic indicators were positive despite the pandemic," he said.
The state minister noted that the economy of the country is in the right path as the government has shown sound macroeconomic management with skills and efficiency especially during the pandemic period.
Highlighting the comparative performances of the major macroeconomic indicators, Dr Alam said that the buoyancy of the major indicators showed that the country's economy is in the right direction.
He said that the inward remittance during the July-January period of the current fiscal year (FY23) reached $12.45 billion while the foreign currency reserve, which was hovering around $32 billion over the last couple of months, stood at $32.64 billion on February 8.
Dr Alam said that the export earnings during the July-January period of the current fiscal year totaled $32.44 billion while the import bill payments reached $41.19 billion during the July-December period of this fiscal year.
Apart from these, he said that the gap on the current account balance is gradually narrowing down while the FDI flow to Bangladesh during the July-December period of the current year notched $1.15 billion. "All of these are indicating a positive sign,"
