Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday said, the per capita income of the country has crossed US$ 1,000 mark. “The country’s annual per capita income in fiscal 2012-13 rose to $ 1,044 from $923” the minister said addressing a meeting at the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) auditorium. According to the minister due to the improvement in the social security sector and positive change in different economic indicators contributed to this rise.
If the per capita income could be raised to 1190 us dollar then the country would meet one of the three requirements for having the status of the middle income country.
The meeting was organised to change the base year for determining the GDP to 2005-06 from 1995-1996.
“Our social sector performances are getting better by the day and that is also reflecting on the economy. That’s why there is rise in the per capita income,” he said at a function.
Muhith said the increase of per capita income is not because of a large-scale change in the country’s economy, rather due to the inclusion of newer elements in the economy.
Muhith said the Awami League-led government has always tried to keep statistics outside politics as far as possible.
Planning Minister AK Khandker, Food Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas, eminent economist Prof Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, General Economics Division (GED) member of the Planning Commission Prof M Shamsul Alam, Informatics and Statistics Division Secretary M Nojibur Rahman, and high officials of different ministries were present.
The BBS also presented a projection on annual per capita income on the occasion.
A new base year will be used to calculate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alongside determining the rate of inflation, he said, adding that 2005-06 base year will now be used instead of 1995-96 base year.
Informatics and Statistics Division Secretary M Nojibur Rahman said that the BBS would soon publish the updated data on the GDP as per the new base year, which will depict the real picture of the country’s economic dynamism.
About the projected GDP growth rate of 7.2 percent in the current fiscal year, the Finance Minister said the target is not unattainable.
Sri Lanka tops the South Asian countries with an annual per capita income of $2,923 in 2012-13 followed by India’s per capita income of $1,527 which may be somewhat eroded by the fall in the value of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, much the same way as Pakistan’s annual per capita income that now stands at $1,380.
India is the world’s fourth largest economy but ranks 94th in per capita income in the world.
-With The Independent input
