DHAKA: In its June 2015 report on “Global Economic Prospects”, the World Bank forecast that Bangladesh could achieve a maximum 6.3 percent GDP growth in the 2015-16 fiscal year due to the country’s political environment.

The global lender made the negative forecast, which was published on their website on Thursday, after nine days of presenting proposed national budget with an estimated GDP rate 7.

World Bank Dhaka office communications officer Mehrin A Mahbub told banglanews that the report by Global Economic Prospects forecast that following the proposed budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year Bangladesh will achieve a GDP of 6.3 percent.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has forecast a 6.51 pc growth in this fiscal and estimated a 7 percent growth in the next.

Planning minister AH Mustafa Kamal said, “Due to political unrest we could not work for three months. Still, we managed to achieve 6.51 percent GDP growth in this fiscal.”

“We will achieve higher GDP growth in the next fiscal by estimating less so that none can say ‘we achieved less by estimating higher’,” he added.

BDST: 2002 HRS, JUN 13, 2015
SR/RR/SMS