The economy assists a certain amount of injury

……………………………………..Asst. Prof. Farhana yasmin liza

Though manipulated economic data could help the actual situation for a certain time period, but truth ultimately comes out or is discovered. The national statistical organization, disclosed last week on GDP for the fiscal year 2019-2020 might have surprised us. The country’s economy took the primary hit from the pandemic in the final quarter of FY’20.The actual count has brought down the growth to a 30-year low at 3.51 percent. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) had revised GDP growth for FY’20 downward to 5.24 percent due to the Covid fallout. The original growth target for the FY was 8.2 percent, which was later revised down to 6.1 percent. the pandemic has done all the damage to life and livelihoods and the economy as well. The industry sector grew between 10.5 percent and 12.5 percent a year until FY’19.The service sector growth also rushed to 4.16 percent in FY’20 from the previous year’s 6.8 percent. The current account deficit in Bangladesh in the last fiscal year(FY21), declined to $3.80 billion from $4.72 billion in FY20. The dramatic fluctuations in currents account deficits and surpluses in 2020 were driven by four major pandemic-fueled, they are travels declined,oil demand collapsed, medical products trade boomed & household consumption shifted.

All of these factors contributed to some countries see into a wider current account deficit. During this pandemic where financial conditions sharply tightened, running current account deficits was harder, pushing countries further into recession.Interestingly, in the just concluded FY 2020-21,foreign exchange earning from the remittance was 36 percent higher at US$24.78 billion than that of the previous fiscal. The government Perspective Plan 2021-2041 has been formulated aiming to achieve 9.0 percent gross domestic product growth by 2031 and 9.90 percent by 2041.Ending the pandemic for everyone in the world is the only way to ensure a global economic recovery. Governments should step up efforts to resolve trade and technology tensions and modernize international taxation. Considering the vulnerable economic situation created by the Covid-19,the country needs to boost foreign direct investment.

It is natural for an economy to encounter both positive and negatives. In the year to come, countries will need to simultaneously rebalance, ensuring the recovery is built on a solid and durable foundation. Hopefully, the government policymakers will try to keep this in mind.

Writer: Assistant Professor, Dept. of Business Administration, Shanto Mariam University of Creative Technology