Online Desk:
The fragile economy left behind by the fallen government has already turned around. Inflation has decreased. Foreign exchange reserves, export earnings, remittance flows, foreign trade balance, employment and per capita income have increased.
On Sunday (February 10, 2025), the press secretary of the chief advisor, Shafiqul Alam, said this after a policy-making meeting on the country’s economy in the presence of the chief advisor, Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Shafiqul Alam said, “The economy has turned around in the 5 months of August-December of the current 2024-25 fiscal year. Inflation will decrease to 7 to 8 percent in July. This is the first time in the last three years that the balance of foreign trade has turned around.”
He said that nine hundred thousand tons of food grains are being imported this year to maintain normal stock and supply.
The Press Secretary said that the subsidy amount for payment of arrears in the power sector has been increased from Tk 40,000 crore to Tk 62,000 crore. Various activities are being taken to control the subsidy by reducing production costs without increasing the price of electricity at the consumer level. As a result, it will be possible to reduce the expenditure by about Tk 11,444 crore, or about 10 percent, this year. A plan has been taken to increase gas production by digging wells to increase daily gas production by 648 million cubic feet. There is a plan to increase it to 1,500 million cubic feet by 2028, he said.
The Press Secretary also said that printing money is currently stopped. Less important projects are closed. Duty exemption on daily commodities continues. 1 crore families in the country are getting daily commodities at fair prices. 1.3 million metric tons of food are in stock. The amount that is in stock and is being imported will further reduce the price of the goods.
He said that a big problem has arisen in the country for a long time with the Korean EPZ. They were not able to invest due to land complications. The fallen dictators created this problem. Now the government has taken measures to solve this land problem. Their land was handed over to the Korean EPZ on February 6. Now there is no problem in investing here. He said that there are various big Korean companies in this EPZ. Hopefully, as a result of solving the problem, investment and employment will increase there.
Shafiqul Alam said that as of June 30 last year, that is, in the outgoing 2023-24 fiscal year, the growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 4.22 percent. The revised target was 5.8 percent. During the period under discussion, the per capita income of the country’s people stood at 2,738 US dollars. The revised target was 2,784 US dollars.
Quoting the Chief Advisor, the Press Secretary said that in the meeting, Professor Yunus emphasized on ensuring the autonomy of the central bank.
In the meeting, Finance Secretary Dr. highlighted the country’s economic achievements in the last 6 months and plans for the future. Md. Khairuzzaman.
In response to a question, the press secretary of the chief advisor said, there is talk about law and order. But currently the law and order situation is in good condition. According to police data, the murder rate has been the lowest in the last 5 years. Why are those who helped Awami League leaders escape after August 5 not being brought to justice? In response, Shafiqul Alam said, most of those who fled abroad went between August 5 and 8. At that time, there was no government in the country. Even though the interim government took charge on August 8, the police were inactive. It took a long time to get the police back to work. After that, an investigation is underway to find out who was involved in this crime.
Source: BSS.
