Bangladesh's economy grew by 4.22 percent in fiscal 2023-24 fiscal year, the lowest in four years, marking the second consecutive year of deceleration due to weak consumption and exports.

The final growth estimate by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is 1.6 percentage points lower than the provisional estimate, which was 5.82 percent.

According to the final growth figures, the size of the GDP stood at $450 billion in FY24, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said at a press briefing yesterday. It was $459 billion as per the provisional estimate.

In FY24, people saw their purchasing power erode amid persistent inflation and sluggish merchandise exports and imports.

Because of the revision and devaluation of Bangladesh's taka against the dollar, per capita income fell to $2,738 last fiscal year, the lowest in three years, from $2,749 in the previous year.

Despite encouraging signs of stability amid record remittance inflows and rising exports, the economy continues to struggle from sluggish private sector investment. Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has recently said getting the wheel of the economy rolling again is his top priority as multilateral lenders predict another year of slow growth.

Last month, the World Bank said Bangladesh's economy might grow by 4.1 percent in FY25, owing to subdued investment and industrial activity amid heightened political uncertainty. A month earlier, the International Monetary Fund predicted a 3.8 percent economic growth for the ongoing fiscal year, citing output losses caused by the July uprising, floods, and tighter policies.

According to the forecasts of the two multilateral agencies, Bangladesh's economic growth for FY24 and the current fiscal year would be the lowest since FY20, when the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy. In the July-September quarter of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh's economy grew by 1.81 percent, the lowest since the second quarter of FY21, when the ripple effects of the pandemic continued to severely impact the economy.