World Bank projects Bangladesh's GDP growth to slow down to 4 percent

Bangladesh's post-Covid recovery continues to be impacted by high inflation, balance of payments deficit, financial sector vulnerabilities, and increasingly limited job opportunities for its youth, especially women and educated youth, says the World Bank in its twice-yearly-update, released on Tuesday.

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The latest Bangladesh Development Update highlights that global and domestic factors have created a challenging macrofiscal context for the country. Bangladesh's real GDP growth moderated to 5.2 per cent in FY24, primarily due to weak consumption and exports. It is projected to decelerate to 4.0 per cent in FY25, driven by subdued investment and industrial sector activities, before accelerating to 5.5 per cent in FY26 and returning to a robust growth trajectory thereafter. Bangladesh also faces increasing income inequality, particularly in urban areas. From 2010 to 2022, Bangladesh's Gini index--a measure of income inequality--increased by nearly three points from 0.50 to 0.53. The report highlights urgent and bold reforms that are necessary to help the country return to a strong, inclusive and sustainable growt