Outgoing FY to see 7.78pc GDP growth: PM

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told parliament that the outgoing fiscal year (2017-'18) will see a 7.78 per cent GDP growth, reports UNB.

"...7.78 per cent GDP growth has been projected in the current fiscal year, which is the highest in the country's history," she said.

The prime minister said this while replying to a tabled question from opposition Jatiya Party MP Fakhrul Imam (Mymensingh-8).

Sheikh Hasina said the size of the country's GDP was only US$ 72 billion in 2005-'06 fiscal year, which has increased to US$ 274 billion in the 2017-'18 fiscal year.

The target has been set in the 7th five-year plan to attain an average 7.4 per cent GDP growth annually. The GDP growth will increase to 8 per cent in 2020, she hoped.

Mentioning her government's various successes, the prime minister said the country's foreign currency reserve rose to US$ 33.41 billion in the 2017-'18 fiscal year from only US$ 3.48 billion in 2006.

She said the per capita income was only US$ 543 in 2006, which currently stands at US$ 1,752.

The poverty rate has now decreased to 22 per cent from 41.5 percent in the 2005-'06 fiscal year, Hasina added.

The prime minister said the export volume was only US$ 10.5 billion in 2006, which now stands at US$ 34.8 billion.