{"id":121453,"date":"2021-12-23T16:47:13","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T23:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121453"},"modified":"2021-12-23T16:47:13","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T23:47:13","slug":"sri-lanka-india-pakistan-maldives-nepal-and-bhutan-can-learn-from-bangladesh-economic-growth-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/23\/sri-lanka-india-pakistan-maldives-nepal-and-bhutan-can-learn-from-bangladesh-economic-growth-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal And Bhutan Can Learn From \u2018Bangladesh Economic Growth Model\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Bangladesh is now one of the world’s developing economies. In 2015,\nBangladesh graduated from Least Developed Countries (LDC) status and became a low-middle-income\ncountry. Many Asian, European and American economists are positive that soon\nBangladesh will become one of the middle-income countries in the world. Today,\nBangladesh is moving forward at a good pace in various indicators of the\neconomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country, once infamously labeled a bottomless basket case\u201d in\n1972 by then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, is rapidly advancing in\nnational growth, per capita national income, export income, foreign exchange\nreserves, electricity, communication, economic and social infrastructure which\nare essential for development. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives,\nBhutan, and even Afghanistan can follow Bangladesh’s economic growth model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, the per capita national\nincome of Bangladesh is positive. According to various local and international\nmedia outlets, in the fiscal year 2019-2020, the per capita income of\nBangladesh was USD 2064. And in the fiscal year 2020-2021, it went up to USD\n 2228. In the fiscal year 2018-2019, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)\ngrowth of Bangladesh was 8.15 percent. And in the2019-2020 fiscal, this growth\nhas been 5.24 percent. According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, in\nthe 2020-2021 and 2021-22 fiscal year, this growth is expected to be 6.8\npercent and 7.2 percent respectively even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is on the highway of\ndevelopment today. Bangladesh has fulfilled the various conditions of the\nUnited Nations and is qualified to enter the list of developing nations.\nAccording to a 2020 survey, Bangladesh is the 41st largest economy in the world\nand one of the 11 countries being considered emerging for future development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Center for Economic and Business Research (CIBR),\na British economic research institute, Bangladesh will be the 34th largest\neconomy by 2025, 26th by 2030 and 25th by 2035 if its economy continues to grow\nand develop like it is now,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth of exports, remittances<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the global economy is in the grip of coronavirus and\nstagnant, Bangladesh’s economy is moving forward, albeit at a relatively slow\npace. And one of the strong factors behind this move is the growth of\nBangladesh\u2019s overall export earnings, the growing inflow of remittances and the\npositive flow of per capita national income. The other South Asian economies\ncan follow the Bangladesh model of quickly overcoming economic stagflation\nduring the Covid-19 period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a survey by the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund the\nGlobal Knowledge Partnership and Development, Bangladesh ranks 8th among the\ntop ten countries in the world in terms of remittance flows by 2020. At\npresent, Bangladesh’s remittance reserves are over USD 45 billion and it ranks\n45th in the world in terms of remittances. According to an EPP statistic, in\nthe first ten months of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Bangladesh’s export earnings\nwere USD 32.07 billion, an increase of 8.75 percent over the same period last\nyear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This rise and progress of Bangladesh’s economy is now a surprise to\nthe whole world. People all over the world are now amazed at the progress\nBangladesh has achieved.. State thinkers, economists and the mainstream media\nof various countries are now praising Bangladesh. They are monitoring the country\u2019s\neconomic development strategy. Some countries are also considering whether this\ndevelopment strategy can be followed or implemented in their countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another US daily, the Wal-Mart Journal, recently wrote that\nBangladesh’s economy is now the ‘fastest horse’ in South Asia. Mike Hard, a\ncommentator for the Washington Post, writes that at one time South Korea was\ncited as an example of development. Now Bangladesh has occupied that slot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Praise from India<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remarkable economic successes that Bangladesh has achieved are\nreflected in various reports published by national and international news\noutlets. Before presenting the 2021-2022 budget, India\u2019s Finance Minister\nNirmala Sitharaman said in February that there was a lot to learn from\nBangladesh on increasing export earnings in certain sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Economic Survey presented by her commented, \u2018Bangladesh has\nemerged as an important exporter in the international arena. Between 2011 and\n2019, the country’s compound annual growth rate was 7.8 percent, 0.9% higher\nthan India and 0.4% higher than the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has also been attracted to the growing per capita national\nincome of the people of Bangladesh. By end of 2020, the IMF had forecast that\nBangladesh would surpass India in terms of per capita national income. Towards\nthe end of 2020, the IMF predicted that Bangladesh would surpass India in terms\nof per capita national income. And that has happened. On June 1, Blumberg\nheadlined, “South Asia now needs to look at the region’s stars.”\nNeedless to say, this star is Bangladesh. ‘<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report in the Indian online journal The Print on May\n26, Bangladesh has built up deep ties with its neighbors, from sending India\nCovid-19 epidemic relief supplies to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis through loan\nassistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, Bangladesh is one of the 40 countries that sent relief\ntwice in the second wave of coronavirus to India. On May 8, Bangladesh sent\n10,000 medicines to India. Later on, on May 16, Bangladesh also sent 2,072\nboxes of antiviral drugs and Covid protection materials to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be noted that Bangladesh recently agreed to exchange USD 200\nmillion with Sri Lanka. This money will go a long way in strengthening the Sri\nLankan economy. The currency exchange process will also help Colombo overcome\nthe huge debt crisis. Through this initiative, it is clear to the outside world\nthat Bangladesh is currently on a strong economic footing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Praise from Pakistan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise and development of Bangladesh’s economy have also\nattracted the attention of Pakistani intellectuals. Abid Hassan, a former\nadviser to the World Bank’s Pakistan program, compared the situation in\nPakistan with Bangladesh’s economic accomplishments in an article in the\nleading Pakistani daily The News International. He said even 20 years ago, it\nwas unthinkable that by 2020, Bangladesh’s per capita GDP would be higher than\nPakistan’s. He felt if Pakistan maintains its disappointing performance, it may\nhave to seek aid from Bangladesh by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Bangladesh can pay USD 20 million to Sri Lanka, waive the IMF’s\nBangladeshi share of money from Somalia and Sudan, help Indonesia with Covid-19\nmedical equipment, shelter a large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, it\ncan also extend financial help to Pakistan. This requires a change in\nPakistan’s mentality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Canada-based think tank International Forum for Rights and\nSecurity recently published a report on Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has been\nshown there that Bangladesh is ahead in all areas of the index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it is expected that if the Bangladesh government can continue\nto handle the Covid-19 epidemic in the same way as it has done in the past,\nthen in 2035 Bangladesh will be the 25th largest economy in the world and in\n2041 emerge as a developed and prosperous country, fulfilling the dream of its\nfounding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal,\nMaldives, Bhutan even Afghanistan are very close to Bangladesh geographically.\nThe nature and trends of socio-economic factors in Bangladesh and other South\nAsian states are almost alike,  although Bangladesh is an overpopulated\ncountry. There is also the burden of the Rohingya refugees on Bangladesh.\nBangladesh is developing despite having many other problems such as Covid-19,\nclimate change, etc. The other South Asian countries would be the gainer if\nthey follow the Bangladeshi approach and model of economic management and\nsystem. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan Bangladesh is now one of the world’s developing economies. In 2015, Bangladesh graduated from Least Developed Countries (LDC) status and became a low-middle-income country. Many Asian, European and American economists are positive that soon Bangladesh will become one of the middle-income countries in the world. Today, Bangladesh is moving forward at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}