The financial account has turned positive after more than a year, yet it might not be good news for Bangladesh since it is the result of the revision of national data in line with IMF prescription and does not indicate improvement in the health of the economy.

There is hope that the major challenges Bangladesh is facing due to high inflation and the foreign reserve crisis will stabilise gradually in fiscal year 2024-25, but consistency in maintaining a strict policy stance will be imperative to that end.

At the beginning of fiscal year 2023-24, there was an expectation that the country’s economy would recover from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and other external pressures.

The minister attends a post-budget seminar of Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association

The semiconductor manufacturing sector is well-known for its complexity, high stakes and intense corporate competition. Demand has always been driven by innovation, with every new technology changing the game.

While a privileged minority, sitting in their high castles, continue to enjoy a larger and larger share of the fruits of “development,” it is becoming obvious that the vast majority are increasingly struggling.

Strategic inefficiency, institutionalisation of corruption, and a lack of accountability are the three major barriers blocking the smooth progress of the economy, said economists, entrepreneurs and politicians yesterday.

Bangladesh is heading towards an economic system devoid of moral values, which is causing a breakdown in financial discipline, spoiling the business climate, and discouraging honest taxpayers, said noted economist Wahiduddin Mahmud.

Budget admits we are in a crisis, but offers no direction out of it

It’s not the best of times. It’s not the season of light. The future will tell whether it’s the period of Dickensian despair on the economic front. But this is not the moment for business as usual, for sure.

The economy has been in a rough patch since 2022 like never before in the past decade and a half

The forthcoming FY2024-25 national budget must show that we mean business.

Bangladesh’s economy has grown at a faster pace, albeit marginally, in the current fiscal year than the previous one although the production of industrial goods and agricultural commodities recorded reduced growth.

High inflation, rising pressure on external account to slow down economy, the economist said

Due to lack of coordinated and coherent measures, inflation continues to rise, notwithstanding the abolition of the interest rate cap since July 2023.

Mansur, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund, said interest rates would rise. This may slow the economy further, but it is necessary to overcome the challenges.

Good governance is crucial for overcoming economic challenges

The upcoming budget should adopt a balanced approach to address economic slowdown and inflationary pressure.

However, the findings raised questions among economists, who were puzzled by the growth at a time when the economy had been facing a slowdown due to high inflation, a downtrend in export growth, and falling imports.

However, this will not be easy for a least developed country (LDC) like Bangladesh, he added while addressing the inaugural session of the “First Development Studies International Conference- DSIC 2024”.