Uncertainties abroad may affect growth momentum at home: BB
The Bangladesh Bank yesterday said the ongoing global uncertainties may have an adverse impact on the country's growth momentum and the inflationary situation.
"The overall growth momentum of the economy is expected to continue in the face of prompt policy initiatives of BB and the government," according to a Bangladesh Bank publication named "Quarterly".
The central bank releases the publication every three months, describing the economic indicators of the country in detail.
The inflationary situation in Bangladesh is anticipated to soften again on the back of an improved inflation scenario of the major trading partner economies.
But the outlook is subject to considerable uncertainties, which could emerge from the continuous unfavourable global developments, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the tight global financial conditions, the central bank warned in its publication.
The real GDP growth of FY22 exhibited a marginal downward revision to 7.10 per cent from the 7.25 per cent estimate in the midst of the combined risks posed by challenges to the post-pandemic recovery and the war-induced global uncertainties.
Given the recent macroeconomic developments, the government has revised the GDP growth target to 6.50 per cent, previously set at 7.50 per cent for FY23.
"The overall growth momentum of the economy is expected to continue in the face of prompt policy initiatives of BB and the government."
The BB thinks that inflationary pressure will ease further in the days to come.
Inflation in Bangladesh climbed to 8.78 per cent in February, breaking a five-month declining trend.
It was up 21 basis points from the 8.57 per cent reported in January, showed data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
Prices in Bangladesh had been dropping after surging to a 10-year high of 9.52 per cent in August, driven by higher commodity prices in the global markets. The CPI rose 8.71 per cent and 8.85 per cent in December and November respectively.
The BB in the publication said non-performing loans in the banking sector decreased in the second quarter of this fiscal year, reflecting BB's relaxed policy initiatives for the loan repayment process to combat the ongoing macroeconomic challenges.
Default loans in banks jumped 17 per cent year-on-year to Tk 120,656 crore in 2022 owing to a lack of corporate governance and the ongoing business slowdown, according data from the central bank.
The NPLs, however, decreased 10.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2022 from Tk 134,396 crore reported in the July-September period.
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