Finance
Country's economy did not decline even in the face of a severe pandemic: Finance Minister
Dhaka, February 10: Praising the country's resilience, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that even in the face of severe Covid-19 outbreak, Bangladesh's economy hasn't slowed down.
"Our economy has always been dynamic, growth has been good. That is why we have been admired and loved all over the world. The calculation is easily available, first we have to see if there is inflation here. That did not happen. Our exchange rate was also stable," the minister said after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and Public Procurement on Thursday (February 10).
"Where other countries' economies have collapsed, our economy has improved," he said. "Our economy has never been down. The revenue that was difficult at this time, the revenue generation was 15 percent more than us. Export trade has grown by 30 percent."
He said, "Another sector of ours, especially in the hands of the Prime Minister, has seen an increase in remittance inflows by 36 per cent. The remittance does not come to our GoB though. But per capita income comes. These are our economic zones. There is no negative growth anywhere."
The Finance Minister further said, "During the presentation of the last budget in Parliament, I mentioned that the growth in GDP will be higher. But that is what happened. I think all this has been possible for the people of this country. We have got a Prime Minister, it has been possible with his able dynamic leadership. He took the initiative to save the people of this country - so that they can get money in hand, run the family. That worked properly. No one else dared to do it, we did it. For all these reasons, our GDP growth has increased."
He said, "Any way you calculate - you will get the calculation we have given. Some will say that our evaluation is not correct, maybe we have shown too much. You can see our achievement, where we are? We can see the achievements everywhere. Now if you don't see any achievement then you can say there is a negative figure."