Lower agri, industrial outputs drag down GDP in FY23
A fall in production in the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors led to a slowdown in Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP).
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the GDP growth in agriculture, manufacturing, service sectors for the fiscal 2022-23 decreased compared to the previous year.
The growth in the agriculture sector for the fiscal 2022-23 slowed to 2.61%, down from 3.05% in the previous fiscal year.
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The industrial sector also registered a drop in production from 9.86% to 8.18% in FY2022-23.
According to BBS calculations, production in the manufacturing sector fell by 2.18% to 9.23%.
Although production in the small, medium and micro industry grew by 4.89%, the service sector saw a dip from 6.26% to 5.84%.
On Monday, the BBS published the provisional GDP estimates for the fiscal year 2022-23 on its website.
It shows Bangladesh's GDP to 6.03% this financial year compared to the 7.10% registered in the last fiscal year.
Earlier, at the end of the executive committee meeting of the National Economic Council on 11 May, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam told reporters that there was an overall growth of 6.03%.
Former lead economist of the World Bank Dhaka office Zahid Hussain said the effect of high inflation affected all sectors.
On the demand side, it led to a reduction in people's purchasing power capacity.
On the other hand, the dollar crisis affected growth as it made it difficult to import machinery and raw materials, which in turn affected supply, he said.
This also exacerbated the energy crisis. The dollar crisis meant even liquified natural gas production was hampered.
These combined meant that both capacity utilisation and investment suffered.
Again, when growth slows down in the industrial and agricultural sectors, it affects the service sector as well, Hossain said.
For example, if production is less, then even the transport sector would suffer, he said.
According to the BBS, the size of Bangladesh's GDP decreased to $453,852 million in the fiscal year 2022-23.
In the previous fiscal year, Bangladesh's GDP was $460,219 million.
