The New Nation - Internet Edition

ACCORDING to a recent forecast made in a UN report as appeared in the national press, Bangladesh will require 17 years more to graduate from LDC (Least Developed Country) to a middle income country if its 6.5 per cent real economic growth is sustained. The UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) report pointed out that Bangladesh fared well in GDP growth, export-import and external finance, but was not doing good in poverty reduction, income inequalities, capital formation, foreign direct investment and progress towards millennium development goals (MDG) in 2006 compared with other LDCs.

Bangladesh was 'relatively less dependent on aid' compared with other LDCs and was among the 'biggest receivers of workers' remittance', it said on the basis of data for 2006. Out of the total 50 LDCs, 19 saw more than 6 per cent GDP growth in 2006 and Bangladesh ranked 15th with a real economic growth of 6.5 per cent in that year. Bangladesh's position with respect to gross capital formation, gross domestic savings and the resource gap of 4.6 per cent remained weak. The UNCTAD has suggested that Bangladesh and other LDCs should ensure maximum contribution of external funds to the priorities set out in their respective development strategies.

Bangladesh is second only to Angola among the five largest LDCs exporters. The country's food import bill increased by 43 per cent from 2000 to 2006 and high import cost caused growing trade deficit along with some other LDCs. In March this year international prices of wheat and rice were more than 50 per cent higher than their levels from a year earlier. In Bangladesh, wheat and rice retail prices increased by more than 80 per cent over the period between 2006 and 2008 which had significant repercussions on the poverty situation.