Post polls, confidence in Bangladesh's economy will be restored: ADB country director

Following the recent national elections, confidence in Bangladesh's economy will be restored, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Bangladesh Edimon Ginting said today. 

"Most importantly, I think as the election is over, confidence will come back," he said while talking to reporters after making a courtesy call on Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali at the latter's office at the Secretariat.

Ginting said there were some questions over the elections, "But afterwards, of course the government will be confident like they were before."

He said the ADB is very proud of the progress that has been achieved over the last 15 years in Bangladesh. 

"So, we're looking forward to helping the government to bring back the high growth that has been achieved in the past. Given the current challenges, we're assured that the future, over the next five years, will be better in Bangladesh."

He said, "Bangladesh is one of the great development stories. Certainly the ADB is proud of working with the government."

When asked about the future strategies to overcome the issue of comparatively low foreign currency reserve, the ADB country director said the government is dealing with the issue.

"We feel that the policies that have been implemented by the government are on the right track and they need to fine tune and thus accelerate it to deal with this. The foreign currency reserve needs to be strengthened," he added.

In this regard, he said the ADB usually provides budget support every year and it provided $800 million to Bangladesh which went directly to the reserve. 

At the same time, he said the ADB brings foreign currency to Bangladesh with its operations like other multilateral and bilateral development partners do.

"Expanding ADB's operations together with other development partners will help boost the revenue," he added.

Noting that the private sector and the expatriates bring back the most amount of foreign currency, Ginting said if they bring back more, it would significantly boost the reserve.

"In the long-term, we'll also work with the government to improve the investment climate. Bangladesh is a great story of growth. But, in terms of attracting FDI, Bangladesh is below its weight. Bangladesh can improve the investment regulatory framework and thus can attract more FDI to support the growth," he added.

When asked whether the country's economy was on the right path, the ADB country director said the economy of Bangladesh is very strong as even with the current challenges, the growth is 6 percent for which all should be proud of.

"Overall development continues despite the challenges from overseas. I think you should take note of that.....Bangladesh economy has been very strong and will continue to be strong while there is confidence in the private sector. We'll continue to support the government," he added.

About the foreign currency reserve situation, the finance minister said the government has already started working on this and let's see.

"We've won in many adverse situations in the past and we hope to do it in the future also. We'll have to do the work first and we're working...The ADB has shown its confidence in us and they have commented that they are happy to see Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister again."

Replying to a question, Ali said they expect higher support from the Manila-based lending agency although their approach is a bit different. "They are lending support to us and as per their estimate, our GDP growth is almost 6 percent which will increase further."

He also said there would be good synergy between the monetary and fiscal policy, but it will take some time.