GDP growth will be 7.4pc this fiscal year: PM

The government has lowered the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal year to 7.4 per cent taking into account the fallouts of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Our GDP grew by 5.24 per cent in the last fiscal year. According to our estimate, the GDP growth will be 7.4 per cent this fiscal year," said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her address to the nation yesterday.

In June, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal aimed an 8.2 per cent economic growth in 2020-21.

"According to the projections of different international agencies, Bangladesh's position will be at the top among the Asian countries in terms of GDP growth rate," the prime minister said. 

Bangladesh is said to have posted the third-highest GDP growth in the world in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Sheikh Hasina informed that the country's per capita income reached $2,064 in 2020.

After the Awami League government assumed office in 2009, Bangladesh was established as a self-dignified country in the world in the last 12 years, said the premier, adding that the country achieved outstanding success in the social, economic and infrastructure sectors.

The Economist has ranked Bangladesh ninth among 66 emerging economies, she said.

Bangladesh will be the 24th largest economy by 2030 as per the World Economic Forum forecast, she said.