BB unveils monetary policy with a word of caution

The Bangladesh Bank today announced the Monetary Policy Statement for the FY20 cautioning on a couple of near-term domestic risk factors that may hamper attainment of the monetary program objectives.

“If the monsoon flood now engulfing wide expanses of the country prolongs or recurs, agricultural output losses can be significant,” Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir told journalists while revealing the monetary policy today.

Ongoing global trade war and geopolitical tensions are uncertainties in the external front that may or may not impair attainment of BB’s FY20 monetary program outcomes, the governor added.

The Bangladesh Bank will be closely monitoring the risk factors to attainment of FY20 monetary program objectives and will address them if the need arises.

The BB’s FY20 monetary policy stance and monetary program will cautiously accommodate monetary and credit expansion needs of all productive pursuits for attaining the FY20 real GDP growth target of 8.2 percent.

They will also keep the CPI inflation contained within the targeted ceiling of 5.5 percent.

“Recent upward revision of fuel gas prices and new VAT law implementation has already imparted some impact on prices in the beginning of FY20 and the lingering effect over the coming month remains to be seen,” he further said.