Kamal defends govt’s GDP growth data
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday defended the government’s GDP growth data, saying the rates are based on solid numbers.
His remark came a day after the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), a research organisation, called the recent economic growth data “puzzling”, citing that the figures are inconsistent with various indicators of the economy.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue, an eminent think-tank, had also questioned the current fiscal year’s provisional growth estimate of 8.13 percent.
All the numbers that were used to measure the economy and the annual growth are available, Kamal said.
“How I calculated the number? It is here. They can see the numbers,” he told reporters before going to a meeting with officials of the National Board of Revenue at its headquarters.
The finance minister, however, solicited constructive feedback from the think-tanks and research organisations.
“Their contributions enrich us. How do we get it right if they do not point out our mistakes? It is not that all our actions are always right and timely. They are here to correct us.”
Citing the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recent report on the World Economic Outlook, Kamal said the organisation predicted sluggishness in the world economy until 2024.
The IMF forecasted that 20 countries would act as growth drivers during the period -- and Bangladesh is one of them, he said. The country’s contribution to global GDP growth would be 0.9 percent, which is the same as Canada, a developed nation, according to an analysis by Bloomberg.
“I have not done this. This is done by the IMF,” he said, suggesting that the research organisations do all the legwork.
Kamal also mentioned the lavish praises that Bangladesh was accorded at the Asian Development Bank’s annual conference in Fiji earlier this month. Bangladesh was termed a country that registers spectacular economic growth. “Have we convinced them?” he questioned.
Correction
Earlier on May 9 after a meeting with a World Bank team, Kamal said in a statement that Bangladesh would be among the top 20 contributors to the global GDP by 2024.
In another statement the following day, he got corrected saying that Bangladesh would be one of the 20 countries to contribute to the growth of the global economy in 2019-20.
