Like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund has raised the forecast for Bangladesh’s GDP growth to 6.5 per cent for the current financial year 2015-16. Though the international lenders upgraded their projections for the country’s economic growth, it still remains behind the government-set 7-per cent GDP growth for the year. The IMF on Tuesday released World Economic Outlook upgrading the forecast for Bangladesh GDP growth. In its earlier WEO released in April, the IMF projected that Bangladesh’s economy would grow by 6.3 per cent in the FY16. The IMF also projected that the country’s economy would grow by 6.8 per cent in the next fiscal year. In the FY20, GDP growth in the country may be at 6.7 per cent, it said. On Sunday, the World Bank also upgraded its estimation for Bangladesh’s economic growth in the ongoing fiscal year to 6.5 per cent from its earlier projection of 6.2 per cent. In its South Asia Economic Focus Fall-2015, the WB said that the economy of the country would grow at higher rate supported by healthy agricultural production along with a recovery in services and domestic demand. ‘Bangladesh has seen an increase in domestic economic activity since April 2015,’ it said. But instability, depressed export growth, an only modest rebound in remittances, and continued weakness in private sector credit growth, remain matters for concern, it further said. Earlier in September, the Asian Development Bank projected that Bangladesh’s economy would grow by 6.7 per cent in the FY16. In March, the Manila-based lender had projected a 6.4-per cent growth for the year.
