GDP growth target 7pc

The government has projected the target of gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7 percent for the upcoming fiscal year.

“Industry and service sectors on the supply-side and, consumer spending and public and private investment, on the demand-side, will be the drivers of this growth,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in his proposed budget.

Moreover, efficient coordination between fiscal and monetary policies will help realise this goal, the minister added.

Highlighting the 7.3 percent target of outgoing fiscal year, the minister said they “could nearly reach the target” had the positive economic prospects of the first half of the fiscal year sustained.

“You know how the destructive actions perpetrated by the 20-party alliance halted this trend from the beginning of the second half, economic activities, however, soon returned to normal through people’s spontaneous participation,” Muhith observed.

Satisfactory agricultural production, vibrant rural economy, encouraging remittance flows, increase in public investment and higher wage rate in the private sector together helped in keeping domestic demand buoyant, he added.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has released the preliminary estimate of GDP for FY 2014-15 which stands at 6.51 percent.

However, the minister in his proposed budget said, “I personally believe that the real situation is far better and the growth rate may exceed 6.51 percent.”