GDP growth target set at 7.2pc

The gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the next fiscal year has been set at 7.2 percent expecting that trade and agriculture will continue to thrive and the global economy will turn around by 2013.
The country's GDP grew by 6.7 percent in 2010-11 and the provisional estimate was set at 6.3 percent for the outgoing fiscal year. Bangladesh now targets to take the growth to 8 percent by 2014-15.
According to the latest forecast, the growth of global economy may stand at 3.5 percent while that of the developing and emerging economies at 5.7 percent in 2012.
“In pace with economies of other emerging and developing countries, we have been able to sustain the economic growth in Bangladesh,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith in his budget speech yesterday.
In the last three years, the country had an export growth of 21.2 percent. By April 2012, export grew by 8.4 percent compared to that of April last year.
The government hopes this trend will continue due to the expansion of regional trade, surge in internal demand and bumper Boro harvest.
The finance minister also expects there would be steady credit flow to development sectors and the deficits in power, energy and infrastructure will gradually decrease.
On an average the country's import also increased by 22.2 percent in the last three years. Up to this April, import grew by 8.7 percent.