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Dhaka     Friday   29 March 2024

Bangladesh’s economy evolves despite hard times

Shadman Sakib Dipro || risingbd.com

Published: 22:25, 17 August 2021   Update: 22:28, 17 August 2021
Bangladesh’s economy evolves despite hard times

Shadman Sakib Dipro

Businesses and economies are struggling across the globe facing the real hardships of Covid-19 pandemic. Bangladesh is not out of this brawl. It is a small and overpopulated country. However, despite the size, its economy has been growing for decades. Bangladesh’s stable political situation and economic growth over the past two decades has made it a model for economic development in comparison to the other developing nations and it keeps the pace despite the hard times.

COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented economic and social crisis across the globe. The pandemic has imposed tremendous negative impacts on the livelihood of the marginal population all over the world.

Many people have lost their jobs and incomes due to the ongoing pandemic. But with the effective measures taken by the Bangladesh government and private sector, the businesses and economies are seen recovered in a rapid manner.

The national economy of Bangladesh is mainly being run over micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) along with large and heavy industries including garments, medicine, ship breaking and electronics . These are the key drivers of the national economy in Bangladesh. They contribute large portion to the country’s GDP, playing crucial role in income generation and resource utilization, providing employment to millions of Bangladeshis.

The World Bank, in a report, published in March this year, said that Bangladesh reached lower-middle-income status in 2015 and is on track to graduate from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) list of the United Nations in 2026. Poverty also declined from 44 percent in 1991 to 15 percent in 2016, based on the international poverty line of $1.90 a day. Bangladesh continues this progress.
In another report filed by the same international financial institution, whispered that Bangladesh’s economy is showing signs of recovery with the rebound in exports, strong remittance inflows, and the ongoing vaccination program. The economy of Bangladesh is recovering gradually. The report also said, over the first half of FY21, factories reopened and exports rebounded though the economy faces elevated risks in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Mercy Miyang Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, ‘Despite the uncertainty created by COVID-19, the outlook for Bangladesh’s economy is positive. Much of the pace of recovery will depend on how fast mass vaccination can be achieved.’

In April, 2021, on the other hand, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate may be in the range of 5.5% to 6% in the current fiscal. It also said that under sustained global recovery and effective Covid-19 management, GDP growth is expected to further strengthen to 7.2% in FY2022.

Along with other continuous development, Bangladesh’s business has turned to a new shape during this global crisis. Businesses in Bangladesh are grabbing online facilities. Many people has started and somewhat regained their businesses using the online spaces. During this hard times, scores of the people can now claimed themselves as entrepreneurs with many small and medium business emerged.

Many people including women from cities to the urbans and villages in Bangladesh who have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic are using Facebook and other social media platforms to run their own businesses. It’s a very good sign for Bangladesh. With these businesses developed in the cities and villages, we can easily assume the shapes of the future business and economy of the country.

As Bangladesh is now standing at the cusp of more widespread innovation, it should learn from the countries already get advancement in the sector. I think Bangladesh has vast possibilities, it can continue to progress towards upper-middle income status with taking the right policies and timely action. Proper economic and business policies should be taken as the post-COVID-19 world will not be the same again for the world and for the country like Bangladesh.

I undoubtedly believe that if we can provide business friendly policies and take necessary measures needed in this connection, we can see the new lights of hopes in the near future, making new heights for the country’s economy. As the new normal is in front of us with changed lifestyle, purchasing behavior of the people, this pandemic may lay the foundation stone for many business ideas that will and can shape our industry and economy.

Many new business sectors have already started operations and are gaining successes with many more to come. And it’s certain. So we need only to patronize those from the government side.

Shadman Sakib Dipro,  a guest writer at risingbd.com

Dhaka/Mahfuz/Augustin Sujan/AKA