IMF again lowers Bangladesh’s growth forecast

DE Online Report:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday slashed Bangladesh’s economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending 30 June to 5.7%, making it the second downgrade by the multilateral lender from its original prediction of 6.5% growth.
In October last year, the Washington-based lender made the first cut projecting 6% growth for fiscal year 2023-24.
For its latest downgrade, it has pointed to global turbulences and local issues like persistently high inflation.
About a week ago, the World Bank had also cut Bangladesh’s growth forecast to 5.6% for the current fiscal year, a rate far lower than the 6.6% average growth recorded in the pre-Covid decade.
However, on the same day, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had hiked the growth prospect to 6.1% on resilient exports and potential structural reforms.