In the second quarter of the current fiscal year, the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stumbled.
In the first quarter (July–September), there was almost a 5 per cent growth. In the following three months, it dropped to 3 per cent.
Today, Tuesday, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released this GDP data for the October–December quarter of the current fiscal year.
According to BBS data, in the current fiscal year's October–December quarter, GDP growth was 3.03 per cent. In the previous quarter, this rate was 4.96 per cent.
However, a matter of concern is the global fuel supply crisis caused by the Iran-Israel war that started in the last week of February. Due to the fuel crisis, precautionary measures have been taken in various countries regarding the use of fuel oil. This could slow down the economies of both small and large countries, and Bangladesh is no exception. There are huge queues for fuel oil at the country's pumps.
What is GDP growth, and how is it useful to people?
GDP growth measures how much the overall size or production of a country's economy has increased compared to the previous year. It is one of the key indicators of a country's economic health or progress.
The GDP size is the total monetary value of goods and services produced within a country during a specific period (usually a year).
Generally, when GDP growth increases, people's income rises, and the economy remains active. However, sometimes even if growth increases, the standard of living or real income of people does not increase at the same rate. The benefits of development must reach the disadvantaged communities, namely the poor, for true progress.
Growth in Different Sectors
Along with overall GDP growth, the BBS publishes separate data for GDP in the agriculture, industry, and service sectors. It shows that in the last October–December quarter, the least growth occurred in the industrial sector.
Growth in this sector was only 1.27 per cent. The agriculture sector saw a growth of 3.68 per cent, while the service sector experienced growth of 4.45 per cent. The overall growth primarily relied on the growth in the industrial sector.