Finance minister projects $1t budget by 2034

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday said the size of the national budget of Bangladesh will reach $1 trillion by 2034, reports UNB.
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"We've given the budget of over Tk 5,000 billion (precisely $62 billion) for 2019-20 fiscal year. The national budget of Bangladesh will touch $1 trillion before 2034," he said.

The finance minister made the remarks while addressing the concluding ceremony of two-day 'Good Project Implementation Forum' arranged by Asian Development Bank (ADB) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.

He said the projection has been made on the basis of the country's previous achievements and the foundation of its present economy.

"The budget of one trillion dollar is our dream. We'll materialise this dream, Insh'Allah," he was quoted as saying in a press release.

Mustafa Kamal said currently Bangladesh is the 32nd largest economy, meaning gross domestic product or GDP, in the world. "We'll be the 24th largest economy by 2030," he said adding that Bangladesh reached the 32nd position climbing past 17 large economies in the last ten years.

According to the IMF's 2018 figures, the Bangladesh economy is actually the 30th largest in the world, with a GDP of $761.7 billion, once adjusted for purchasing power parity that considers the price level prevailing in different countries.

The country's nominal GDP in 2018 stood at $287.6 billion, placing it 41st.

The finance minister said once Bangladesh could not implement any project without foreign loan. But now Bangladesh is not dependent on foreign debt anymore, he said.

He said if the implementation of ongoing projects is completed, Bangladesh's scenario will change "unimaginably".

ADB country director Manmohan Parkash said Bangladesh is a role model in the world in terms of attaining economic growth. It is a very challenging job to gain economic growth in the present world, but Bangladesh attained more than 8 per cent GDP growth in the last fiscal year, he said.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Monowar Ahmed and ERD additional secretary Farida Nasreen, among others, were present in the function.