Development

UNDP’s Human Development published a report on decade wise economic development of Bangladesh which shows that the country has achieved a sustained economic growth for the last three decades.

According to the report, Bangladesh’s GDP was 3.7% in the decade of 1980 and it went up to 4.8% in 1990s. In 2000s, the GDP was at 5.8%. The report also shows that GDP increased four times from Tk. 0.9 trillion in 1980 to Tk 3.6 trillion in 2010 and per capita GDP increased 2.5 times at Tk. 25,000 to Tk. 10,000. Projection of 2016’s GDP is 7%!

Macroeconomic stability, deregulation of state owned organizations, development in financial sector, population growth decreasing -all contribute to improvement of the GDP at a sustainable rate. As a result, economical growth rate has been around 6.2% for past four years and Bangladesh’s economy was flexible even during global financial crisis and political instability in the Middle East. It was possible due to growth in investment and capacity to deal with natural calamities.

The report also said structural reformation in economical sector attributed Bangladesh to decrease its volatility. Crops production in dry seasons has increased significantly while industrial and service sector is now contributing a lot to the GDP of agriculture based economy of Bangladesh. Moreover, infrastructural development makes the country able to cope with the external shocks.

The report also shows that economic growth of South Asian countries has been robust for past three decades. Now, South Asia is the fastest growing regions in the world. GDP of this region was increased by 5.9 % between 1980 and 2010. The report indicated that to hold sustained economical growth in South Asia, authorities of the respective countries should focus on human development as well as reducing social discrimination.