Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) projected the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) growth rate at 5.82 per cent for the fiscal year 2023-24, against the Ministry of Finance's revised target of 6.5 per cent for FY 2023-24.
An analysis of upcoming budget documents reveals that despite the lower growth rate from BBS, the ministry is still setting a 6.5 per cent GDP growth target for FY25 as well.
Sources at the Finance Division under the Finance Ministry have stated that a meeting, led by Finance Secretary DrMdKhairuzzamanMozumder, was held on Tuesday because of BBS's lower provisional GDP estimates. The meeting decided that despite the lower GDP growth reported by BBS, the next fiscal's budget growth target will remain the same as the previous fiscal’s revised target.
The ministry had initially set a 7.5 per cent GDP growth rate for FY24. However, it was later revised to 6.5 per cent due to economic volatilities. Considering the government's long-term plans and the current economic situation, sources confirmed that the ministry has set this growth target.
Wishing to remain anonymous, an official from the Finance Division told The Business Post, "While industry and agriculture growth may slow this fiscal, they will be a recovery in the next one. Additionally, the service sector will perform better. As a result, everyone agreed on setting the GDP growth target at 6.5 per cent."
