The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is likely to publish quarterly GDP data from next fiscal year (FY), 2023-24, by incorporating household activities, as it is working to build capacity of the public data-providing agencies, officials said on Wednesday.
The quarterly gross domestic product (QGDP) data are likely to include two other sectors, like household activities of the family members and the housemaids, in its calculation from the next FY, the BBS officials also said.
The country's quarterly gross economic output would help estimate the expansion or contraction of the country's economy quickly and accurately, they added.
"We have already started training for the data providers of all the relevant government ministries and agencies. They'll provide us with the data on quarterly basis for formulating the QGDP," said a BBS official.
With the IMF's help, the BBS is building the capacity of manpower in the bureau as well as in other agencies of the government, he told the FE.
"We are using the XLPBM, a Microsoft Excel add-in - developed by the IMF's Statistics Department - to assist the compilers of quarterly national statistics, for formulating our QGDP data," he added.
Currently, Bangladesh's national statistical body - the BBS - provides GDP data on annual basis.
Usually, the agency announces provisional data in the last quarter of a FY, and provides final data of the annual GDP and in the first quarter of the following year.
Another BBS official said they have planned to start publishing the QGDP from next FY.
"We will be publishing the QGDP for the next couple of years on experimental basis. When coordination and other necessary activities regarding quality data production will be managed properly, the QGDP will be published properly."
"We are going to add two other sectors - activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods, and service-providing activities of households for own use, and activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies - in the QGDP calculation from next year," the BBS official added.
The national statistical body will use data from 21 sectors and 99 sub-sectors for making quarterly and annual GDP growth forecasts. Currently, the BBS uses 19 sectors for the country's GDP calculation.
BBS Director General Md Matiur Rahman said they are taking preparations to publish the QGDP.
The QGDP will mark a paradigm shift in assessing Bangladesh's economic activities and development, he added.
Meanwhile, the IMF has put pressure on the government to produce quarterly economic data for assessing the country's development scenario.
In a meeting with the IMF recently, the BBS has agreed to produce the QGDP, the officials said.
The BBS has already signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with various stakeholders to get the data every three months.
