Bangladesh set to overtake India in per capita GDP growth: IMF

Bangladesh is set to overtake India in terms of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020-21, according to the latest projection shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, India's per capita GDP is likely to fall 10.5 percent to $1,877 -- the lowest in four years -- due to the sharp economic contraction following the strictest nationwide lockdown in the world.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, is expected to see its per capita GDP to grow by four percent to $1,888, reports several Indian media including NDTV, Business Standard and India Today.

It may be noted that the GDP figure for both countries is at current prices.

The WEO database suggests that the Indian economy will be the worst hit from the pandemic in South Asia after Sri Lanka, whose per capita GDP is expected to shrink 4 percent in the current calendar year. In comparison, Nepal and Bhutan are expected to grow their economies this year, while the IMF has not divulged Pakistan's data for 2020 and beyond, reports Business Standard.

IMF predicts a sharp economic recovery in India next year, which is likely to push per capita GDP ahead of Bangladesh in 2021 by a small margin, it adds.

India's per capita GDP in dollar terms is expected to grow 8.2 percent in 2021, against an expected 5.4 percent growth for Bangladesh. This will grow India's per capita GDP to $2,030 next year, against Bangladesh's $1,990.

India's opposition party Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been critical of the centre over the state of the economy, hit out at the government after the IMF projections. "Solid achievement of 6 years of BJP's hate-filled cultural nationalism. Bangladesh set to overtake India," he tweeted today.

India's projected slump is the largest of any major economy except for Italy and Spain, and the biggest among the main emerging markets.

Among the other countries in the BRICS group, Brazil's economy will contract 5.8 percent, Russia 4.1 percent, South Africa 8 percent while China will grow 1.9 percent, according to the IMF's report.

Read more: IMF lowers GDP growth forecast to 4.4pc