Country's economy in comfortable zone: Dr Shamsul Alam

State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam on Tuesday said that the country's economy is under control and in a comfortable zone while it is also getting vibrant amid the global shocks.

"The economy is getting vibrant and it is quite evident. The general point to point inflation is gradually coming down. So, I can say the economy is under control," he said.

The state minister said this while addressing the "DJFB Development Dialogue" as the chief guest held at the NEC Conference Room in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area today.

Presided over by Bangladesh Development Journalist Forum (DJFB) President Hamid Uz Zaman, its general secretary Shahanuare Shaid Shahin moderated the event.

Dr Alam said although the economic growth had slowed down slightly in the country during the pandemic, but it never derailed.

He also expressed his optimism about attaining 7 percent growth rate in the current fiscal year (FY23). "Although we've scope to increase further our revenue collection, but we've done comparatively well in economic management," the state minister added.

Dr Alam said that many had voiced their concerns that Bangladesh could experience situation like Sri Lanka. "But, we had always said that Bangladesh would not experience such situation as our macroeconomic parameters are authentic while the socio-economic indicators were positive despite the pandemic," he said.

The state minister noted that the economy of the country is in the right path as the government has shown sound macroeconomic management with skills and efficiency especially during the pandemic period.

Highlighting the comparative performances of the major macroeconomic indicators, Dr Alam said that the buoyancy of the major indicators showed that the country's economy is in the right direction.

He said that the inward remittance during the July-January period of the current fiscal year (FY23) reached $12.45 billion while the foreign currency reserve, which was hovering around $32 billion over the last couple of months, stood at $32.64 billion on February 8.

Dr Alam said that the export earnings during the July-January period of the current fiscal year totaled $32.44 billion while the import bill payments reached $41.19 billion during the July-December period of this fiscal year.

Apart from these, he said that the gap on the current account balance is gradually narrowing down while the FDI flow to Bangladesh during the July-December period of the current year notched $1.15 billion. "All of these are indicating a positive sign,"

The State Minister said that the private sector credit growth is also increasing day by day while the sale of savings certificates is also on the downtrend.

He, however, opined that the grey area of the economy is the low tax to GDP ratio which is still at 10.47 percent till last December. "We're yet to make notable progress in this index. In the 8th Five Year Plan, we had a target to raise the tax GDP ratio to 14 percent," Dr Alam said.

Turning to the issue of inflation, he said that the high trend of inflation that the country had witnessed in the later part of last year was mostly because of external factors.

Dr Alam said that the general point to point inflation in January was 8.57 percent which was 5.86 percent in January last year. The wage rate has been witnessing an uptrend as it reached 7.06 percent in January up from 7 percent in December.

When asked about the major challenges before the economy in the coming days, he said the major challenge for the government would be on how to keep the impact of high inflation on the commoners at minimum level adding that the government has been taking pragmatic steps in this regard.

He noted that the inflation basket needs to be changed with the change in food habit and in other areas while it could be realigned. "The data being generated from the BBS is credible enough," the state minister said.

He said that the concerned Ministries and authorities should take steps to stop cheat in the rice market as many dishonest traders tend to sell polished rice at high price.

Dr Alam, also an Ekushey Padak winner, said there is a need to take urgent steps to stop cheat in the rice market for the sake of the country's people.

Mentioning that the debt to GDP ratio is still the lowest in Bangladesh compared to other countries of the world, he said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was pleased enough to extend the $4.7 billion loan as budget support against the demand of $4.5 billion. "The IMF has trust on our loan repayment standard," Dr Alam said.

Replying to another question on Gini coefficient, he said that many have been expressing their excessive concerns over the growing disparity in the country. "Disparity will increase and it is not unusual. The government is very much cautious in this regard," Dr Alam said.

The state minister told another questioner that the country needs more FDI and foreign loans to continue the development spree, expedite industrialization and thus employment generation in the country