Per capita income now $1465

Despite the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, per capita income has come down to $1,465 decreasing by a dollar in the last fiscal year.

Briefing media after the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar’s NEC conference room in city today, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal revealed the figure.

The per capita income declined by a dollar to $1465 from the provisional estimation of $1466 due to slight depreciation of the Taka against the US dollar, he said.

The country’s GDP growth rate in the 2015-16 fiscal year finally reached 7.11 percent from the provisional estimation of 7.05 percent, said Mustafa Kamal.

He said the development partners like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) also in their recent projections said the GDP growth would reach 7.1 percent in 2015-16 fiscal year.

Asked whether it is the highest-ever GDP growth rate, the Planning Minister said he would consider it as a record when the country would be able to attain around 8.5 percent growth rate in the coming years. "Now every country wants to invest in Bangladesh and the government would further continue to enhance its capacity to woo more investment," he said.

An official at the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said this was, to the best of his knowledge, the highest-ever GDP growth rate of the country has so far achieved after its independence.

Bangladesh has consistently been attaining over 6 percent GDP growth rate for the last couple of years as it reached 6.55 percent in FY15, up from 6.06 percent in FY14, 6.01 percent in FY13 and 6.52 percent in FY12.

Considering the sectoral growth rate of GDP at constant prices, Mustafa Kamal said the BBS provisional data also show the agriculture sector witnessed a 2.79 percent growth in the last fiscal year (FY16) which was 3.33 percent in the previous year, while the industrial sector a 11.09 percent growth in the last fiscal against 9.67 percent in the previous fiscal year and the services sector a 6.25 percent growth in the last fiscal year against 5.80 percent in the previous year.

The GDP growth rate of the fisheries sector in FY16 was 6.11 percent while mining and quarrying 12.84 percent, manufacturing 11.69 percent,  electricity, gas and water supply 13.33 percent and in construction 8.56 percent.

The Planning Minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier in the day's Ecnec meeting thanked the people of all sections for this outstanding GDP growth in the last fiscal year.

The overall size of the GDP at constant market price for the FY16 stood at Tk 8,835,389 million which was Tk 8,248,624 million in the FY15.

Besides, the final BBS figures also show that the GDP at current prices in FY16 was Tk 17,328,637 million, the GNI Tk 18,326,749 million and per capita GDP $ 1385.

With UNB inputs