Finance minister AMA Muhith on Monday lowered the forecast of growth rate of the country’s gross domestic products to 6.3 per cent in the current fiscal year from the earlier projected 7.2 per cent. The GDP growth rate will be 6.3 per cent in the current fiscal year, he told reporters after a meeting with the officials of the state-owned banks and financial institutions at his secretariat office in the afternoon.
He said 7.2 per cent growth rate which was projected on the basis of the last fiscal year was ambitious.
He said the current fiscal budget would be revised due to lower than expected revenue generation.
Muhith made the latest projection four days after the World Bank forecast the GDP growth rate at 5.7 per cent due to political ‘uncertainty’ over the general election.
‘Political uncertainty and disruptions in the run up to elections in Bangladesh will continue to slow growth to an estimated 5.7 per cent in FY 2013-14,’ said WB’s Global Economic Prospects released on Wednesday.
Muhith observed that the WB and the International Monetary Fund always made low growth forecast.
He also observed that the political unrest had caused less damage to the economy than it was anticipated.
The country’s economic progress in the last six months was good despite negative speculations and political unrest, he said, adding that export was good. Import has declined and the inflow of remittance was fine, he said.
He noted that only a monster could pull down the growth rate.
Muhith took a swipe at the insurance companies saying they were thieves. He termed the sector as a place of swindling money.
He warned that the government would take action if the insurance companies do not give up malpractice. He said finalisation of insurance policy is a priority task of the government in next six months.
Muhith said another priority task of the government was to start the construction of Padma Bridge and strengthening the anti-corruption commission.
He said performance of the share market was stable in the last two years following changes in rules and regulations. He criticised media for speculative news on the country’s share market.
He said the state-owned banks were facing problems like theft, growing default loans and over exposure which are linked to the corruption in the banking sector.
Muhith ruled out punishment as a mean to fight corruption, saying it could only be curbed by brining changes in the system.
-With New Age input
