Bangladesh’s GDP growth slows to 3.91% in Apr-Jun quarter

Bangladesh's economic growth slowed sharply to 3.91 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023-24 fiscal year, suffered by downturn in the industrial production growth.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.88 percent in the same April-June period previous fiscal year.

Factory output grew 3.98 percent in the April-June quarter of the FY24, down from 10.16 a year ago.

Agricultural production and services sector also recorded sluggishness, according to data released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics today.

The April-June quarter marked the lowest expansion of overall economic output in 2023-24 fiscal year in Bangladesh, which faces worst ever economic crisis in recent decades owing to stubbornly high inflation and falling foreign exchange reserves.

The World Bank in its October issue of Bangladesh Development Update said the real GDP growth of Bangladesh is estimated to have slowed to 5.2 percent in FY24 from 5.8 percent in FY23.

The multilateral lender also slashed its forecast for Bangladesh's economic growth by 1.7 percentage points to 4 percent for FY25 due to "significant uncertainties following recent political turmoil" and "data unavailability".

The International Monetary Fund last week also brought down Bangladesh's economic growth forecast for this year to 4.5 percent as political uncertainty, industrial unrest and floods weigh heavily on economic activities.

The FY25 growth prediction so far would be lowest since fiscal 2019-20, when the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

In fiscal 2019-20, the GDP growth was 3.45 percent, according to the BBS.