No negative growth in any area of economy

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said no sector of the country’s economy has witnessed negative growth although the global economy has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said this while briefing reporters on the outcomes of the two consecutive meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase held virtually on Thursday.

“You can easily find a calculation of the economy. There is no inflation while our exchange rates have remained stable. When remittance was facing tough times globally, our [inward] remittance achieved a 15 per cent growth,” he added.

He also said the country’s revenue generation obtained a 30 per cent growth while imports and the IT sector witnessed growth too.

Kamal said though remittance was not considered while calculating GDP growth, it was taken into account while calculating per capita income. “These are the areas of the economy. If there was any negative growth, it would have reflected in the economy,” he said.

Referring to his budget speech, the finance minister said his prediction in the previous fiscal year proved correct in terms of economic growth. “The predictions were close to the World Bank’s projections.”

He said it was possible because of the people’s participation and efficient leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Our expansionary monetary policy has played a role in this regard. We followed this policy when many countries in the world did not dare to take this path,” he said, adding these were the reasons for economic growth.

He said, “Whatever the way you calculate economic growth, you will finally find the same result. We have given the clarifications.”

Kamal said somebody might say it was not a correct calculation but “you can see our achievements yourself.”

“Nobody can show this achievement anywhere,” he said.

Despite the pandemic, Bangladesh witnessed 6.94 per cent GDP growth in the previous fiscal year while per capita income rose to $2,591.

GDP slipped to 3.51 per cent during the early stage of the pandemic in FY20, which was the lowest in the past three decades.

Export earnings increased by 30.38 per cent in the first seven months (July-January) of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of the previous year. The earnings were $2,954.89 crore, up from $2,267 crore in the previous fiscal year.

Besides, in January, the country earned remittances of $170.44 crore, up from $162.90 crore a month ago.

In FY22, remittance earnings were $187.14 crore, $181 crore, $172.67 crore, $164.68 crore, and $155.37 crore in July, August, September, October, and November, respectively.

In the previous fiscal year, remittance earnings were $259.82 crore, $196.29 crore, $215.10 crore, $210.21 crore, $207.87 crore, $205 crore, and $196.19 crore in July, August, September, October, November, December, and January, respectively.