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Bangladesh
Economy : Quick look
Bangladesh is an agricultural country. With some
three-fifths of the population engaged in farming.
Jute and tea are principal sources of foreign exchange.
Major
impediments to growth include frequent cyclones
and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises,
inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor
force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays
in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient
power supplies, and slow implementation of economic
reforms. Economic reform is stalled in many instances
by political infighting and corruption at all levels
of government. Progress also has been blocked by
opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions,
and other vested interest groups. The newly-elected
BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA,
has the parliamentary strength to push through needed
reforms, but the party's level of political will
to do so remains undetermined.
For higher GDP growth, investments in both public
and private sectors will need to be accelerated.
The prevailing political and economic stability
has greatly encouraged investment in the private
sector. The trend of foreign direct investment is
very encouraging.
The government is committed to market economy and
has been pursuing policies for supporting and encouraging
private investment and eliminating unproductive
expenditures in the public sector. A number of measures
have been taken to strengthen the planning system
and intensify reforms in the financial sector. The
present government believe that wastage of resources
is a far greater obstacle to development than inadequacy
of resources.
It is common knowledge that many development efforts
in the past years turned into exercises in futility
because of inefficiency and corruption in high places.
Terrorism was allowed to paralyse law and order.
Administration was over centralized at the cost
of local government institutions. The government
has, therefore, decided to decentralize administration
in the quickest possible time.
GDP: purchasing
power parity - $230 billion (2001 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 5.6%
(2001 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing
power parity - $1,750 (2001 est.)
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 30%.
industry: 18%.
services: 52% (2000).
Population below poverty
line: 35.6% (1995-96 est.)
Household income or consumption
by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
3.9%.
highest 10%: 28.6%
(1996).
Inflation rate (consumer
prices): 5.8% (2000)
Labor force:
64.1 million (1998).
note: extensive export
of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar,
and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at
$1.71 billion in 1998-99.
Labor force-by occupation:
agriculture 65%, services 25%, industry and mining
10% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 35.2% (1996).
Budget:
revenues: $4.9 billion
expenditures: $6.8
billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000).
Industries: jute
manufacturing, cotton textiles, garments, tea processing,
paper newsprint, cement, chemical, light engineering,
sugar, food processing, steel, fertilizer.
Industrial production growth
rate: 6.2% (2001)
Electricity-production:
13.493 billion kWh (2000).
Electricity-production by source:
fossil fuel: 92.45%
hydro: 7.55%
nuclear: 0%.
other: 0% (2000).
Electricity-consumption:
12.548 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity-exports:
0 kWh (2000).
Electricity-imports: 0
kWh (2000).
Agriculture-products:
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco,
pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry.
Exports: $6.6
billion (2001)
Exports-commodities: garments,
jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood.
Exports-partners:
US 31.8%, Germany 10.9%, UK 7.9%, France 5.2%, Netherlands
5.2%,
Italy 4.42% (2000).
Imports: $8.7
billion (2001)
Imports-commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel,
textiles, raw cotton, food, crude oil and petroleum
products, cement.
Imports-partners:
India 10.5%, EU 9.5%, Japan 9.5%, Singapore 8.5%,
China 7.4% (2000)
Economic aid-recipient:
$1.575 billion (2000 est.)
Currency: 1
taka (Tk) = 100 poisha.
Exchange rates:
Taka per US dollar - 57.756 (January 2002), 55.807
(2001), 52.142 (2000), 49.085 (1999), 46.906 (1998),
43.892 (1997)
Fiscal year:
1 July-30 June.
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