Bangladesh government needs to speed up regulatory process and cut business cost for attracting investors, particularly foreign ones, to achieve a faster growth in few years. A top World Bank (WB) economist expressed such view based on his close look at the economic potentials of the country and the tasks for tapping those for quicker growth. Kaushik Basu, chief economist of the WB, especially advised the government to give due attention to easing the procedural hurdles and cost of doing business in Bangladesh. “The government should take effective measures to reduce cost of doing business in Bangladesh,” Dr. Basu said while talking to the FE in Dhaka Monday. He also suggested that the government should take necessary measures to develop three to four more sectors, including pharmaceuticals, in replication of the RMG model of success. Dr. Basu appeared highly optimistic about Bangladesh’s growth prospect, saying that Bangladesh has achieved more than 6.0 per cent economic growth for last five-six years at this difficult stage of the global economy. “We’ve estimated that Bangladesh will achieve 6.5 per cent gross domestic growth (GDP) by the end of this fiscal year (FY), 2015-16. It may hit 7.0 per cent next year because Bangladesh’s prospects are very good,” he explained. The visiting WB chief economist also suggested that the government improve efficiency of Chittagong Port through accelerating cargo handling that would help attract big ships for using the seaport. Dr. Basu, a second WB chief economist from a developing country and the first from India, said investment as a percentage of GDP stood at 29 per cent but it could touch 30 pert cent over the next one year. “Such investment will improve rapidly after achieving 30 per cent of the GDP,” he said with a mention of Indian and East Asian experiences. The senior economist recommended improving infrastructure and the ease of doing business, creating business ethos and improving labour standards for getting to the desired goal of development. He also advised the government to take necessary measures to increase tax-GDP ratio, which is 10 per cent lower than Nepal’s, for facilitating the country’s overall development. Regarding apparel and clothing sector, the WB chief economist also said there is a huge scope to explore the market of readymade garment (RMG) products across the world. “The international safety standards should be maintained for attracting global buyers,” Dr. Basu said, adding that Bangladesh may take advantage of increased labour cost in China. Dr. Basu said the government should try to take more people in the economic growth process because the economic growth will help political stability. Good policies are necessary to ensure inclusive economic growth, reduce poverty and inequality, according to Dr. Basu, also an economics teacher. “Bangladesh should speed up initiatives for minimising social inequality considering global situation,” he observed. About infrastructure development, the WB economist said the government needs to invest solely in some core areas, including development of basic infrastructures. Besides, the government should create an avenue so that the private sector comes forward to investing in infrastructure- development projects. For doing so, he recommended, necessary financing arrangement should be made available through borrowing from private commercial banks in phases to minimise any possible mismatch of funds.
