Bangladesh now middle-income country

Bangladesh has been ranked a lower-middle income country for its improved economic performance in the past year, according to the World Bank.

With this, the country has moved out of the low-income threshold for the first time.
Bangaldesh's economic status has been reflected in a list published by the World Bank on Wednesday.
The global agency's estimates show Bangladesh's gross national income (GNI) per capita touches the one of the countries that have annual GNI between $1,046 and $4,125.
The World Bank has categorised the middle-income countries in two groups - lower-middle income and higher-middle income countries.
Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) executive director Mustafizur Rahman said, “It is the recognition and reflection of continuous economic development of the country. It is obviously a great achievement for us and a landmark as well.”
He said the achievement will enrich reputation and uplift the status of Bangladesh to the world. A relatively advantageous position will be created for the country to get loans from the international money market, he pointed out. "Bangladesh now will be considered as a less risky country."
At the same time, he cautioned, condition for getting loan from international development agencies may be harder. "So, we need take preparations for that," he said.
Despite being a member of the middle-income family, Bangladesh will stay in the LDC (least developed country) group. So, it will enjoy facilitie4s as LDC too.
However, Bangladesh has to overcome in three indicators - vulnerable economic indicators, the human development index and per capita income indicators- to get rid of LDC tag.
Mustafizur Rahman said, “Of them, we have just overcome the first one, but we fell behind in the two other indicators.”
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), per capita income in Bangladesh is $1,314. But the WB figures show the income to be just above $1,095.
A World Bank (WB) press release on Wednesday said the World Bank’s latest estimates of gross national income (GNI) per capita continue to show improved economic performance in many low-income countries, with Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar, and Tajikistan now becoming lower-middle income countries, joining those with annual income threshold between $1,046 and $4,125.
The WB added every year on 1 July it revises the income classification of the world’s economies based on estimates of GNI per capita for the previous year.
The WB figures show the Maldives and Mongolia were the ‘highest movers’ in the rankings - up 13 and 8 places, respectively while Oman and Timor-Leste fell most from their 2013 ranking - down 15 places for both.
Malawi has the world’s lowest reported GNI per capita at $250, while Monaco has the highest, at more than $100,000 - more than 400 times more per person on average than Malawi.