City Bank Capital corrects position on its GDP estimation
City Bank Capital Resources Limited has said it "inadvertently" assumed the country's GDP at $300 billion based on electricity consumption only.
In a clarification yesterday, it said, "We understand and acknowledge that GDP involves several elements like productivity, trade, workforce dynamics and many other factors other than electricity consumption."
City Bank Capital said, "We respect economists, statisticians and regulators working on these estimates and support ongoing efforts for transparency and accuracy."
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The City Bank Capital came up with the estimation – against the previous government's overstated figure of $459 billion – in its Macro Economic Outlook 2025 report on 2 January by comparing economic output in the region against electricity consumption.
Citing the Bangladesh Power Development Board, City analysts said the country consumed only 96 million megawatts of electricity in the last fiscal year ending in June, which is much lower than the regional benchmarks.
They doubted the GDP figure, questioning how Bangladesh's economy could have an outlier edge for an astonishing 50-60% higher economic output than India, Pakistan, or China per unit of electricity consumption.
"Bangladesh's GDP figures need recalibration," the City Bank Capital report stated.
"City Bank Capital is committed to fostering constructive discussions to strengthen Bangladesh's economic growth and credibility. We have rectified our previous report on the GDP number. We apologise for the confusion and request everyone not to refer to this inadvertently assumed GDP figure in any references," City Bank Capital said today.
