GDP growth reaches 7.86pc in final count

Bangladesh's economy grew 7.86 percent last fiscal year riding on the agriculture sector, especially an increase in rice production, as the government unveiled the final count yesterday.  

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal disclosed the final figure of the gross domestic product for 2017-18.

It is up from the provisional estimate of 7.65 percent.

The provisional estimate was made on the basis of figures which were available in the first six months of the fiscal year, Kamal told reporters after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

At the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was congratulated for the country's unprecedented achievement.

Kamal said the agriculture and industry sectors contributed to the increase in the GDP growth in the final count.

Agriculture grew 4.19 percent in 2017-18, way up from 3.06 percent in the provisional estimate, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). 

Industry grew 12.06 percent against the preliminary estimate of 11.99 percent and the services sector rose 6.39 percent, up from the previous figure of 6.33 percent.

The government has undertaken various infrastructure projects and if they are implemented, the growth will accelerate further, said the planning minister. 

Though GDP growth increased in the final count, per capita income decreased because of the depreciation of the taka against the US dollar.

The final calculation put the per capita income at $1,751 in 2017-18, down from $1,752 as per the provisional estimate. 

Data from the BBS showed poverty rate stands at 21.8 percent and extreme poverty rate at 11.3 percent in 2018, which was 23.1 percent and 12.1 percent respectively in 2017.

The planning minister said the poverty rate fell as economic growth accelerated. The government will bring down the extreme poverty rate to zero before 2030 riding on the faster economic growth, he said.

The minister said the economic cadre will merge with the administration cadre very soon. The prime minister gave her consent on the subject in the Ecnec meeting.