Planning Minister MA Mannan has expressed his hope that the general point-to-point inflation in the country is likely to ease from October due to the various measures taken by the government.
"The inflation is likely to remain a bit higher in September as it was in August. After that hopefully, inflation is likely to ease from October," he said.
The planning minister said this while responding to a volley of questions at the "DJFB Development Dialogue" as the chief guest held at the NEC Conference Room in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Organised by the Development Journalists Forum of Bangladesh (DJFB), its President Hamid Uz Zaman presided over the dialogue while its general secretary Shahanuare Shaid Shahin moderated it.
Explaining the reasons for a possible easing of inflation in the coming months, Mannan said the current food reserve of the country is at a record height of more than 2.0 million tonnes while the price of rice is gradually coming down in the market with a hope of good Aman harvest.
Besides, he said that the economy of Bangladesh is a 'working economy' and it was not affected hugely during the pandemic and the global situation.
Apart from this, he said that the government is going to get around $4.5 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and it is almost guaranteed.
Asked about the possibility of attaining a GDP growth target of 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY23), Mannan said that the country would hopefully attain more than 7.00 per cent growth in the current fiscal year if there is a successful turnaround in the economy, as well as the inflation, starts to come down. "I'll be happy if the GDP growth reaches 7.0 per cent in the current fiscal year," Mannan said.
Responding to another question, he informed that the poverty rate is still around 20 per cent while the latest official data on the poverty rate would be available when the findings of the ongoing Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) is published.
Turning to the issue of taking a $4.5 billion loan from the IMF, he said that it is a 'routine' loan although the amount is a bit high, but the package could not be termed as a 'bailout' as labelled by many critics.
Mannan said since the economic size, demand and capacity of Bangladesh is growing, the country could afford to take a such volume of loan.
He said that the local currency has been devalued against US dollars since there were various pressures, but the dollar price is now coming down and hopefully, it would settle around Tk 100 per US dollar.
When asked whether the government would revisit its mid-term and long-term plans in the wake of the pandemic and the global volatile situation, the minister said, "The doors are not closed, hopefully, we may need not to revisit our plans...if there is no turnaround in the coming months, then we might need to sit with the concerned stakeholders."
Sought his comments on the recent adjustment in fuel oil prices, he said that Bangladesh is not a major buyer nor a major supplier of fuel oil.
He said there had been a huge foreign currency reserve for Bangladesh, then the country could have bought fuel oil in advance and thus could have enjoyed an advantage.
Mannan said already there has been a price adjustment of fuel oil for a couple of times and hopefully, there would be more reversion in price.
"But, it won't likely to go back to its previous stage," he said.
He told another questionnaire that following the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India, the projects taken under its different Lines of Credit would get a fresh momentum while the disbursement of funds would be expedited further.
Noting that he supports the use of science and technology in daily life, the minister said he is also in favour of using technology like Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the polls as it would simplify the process.
He observed that the government of Sheikh Hasina over the last 13 years has been able to take the rural economy close to the urban economy while there has been notable uplift in the education and health sectors.
Responding to another question, the planning minister said corruption is a universal word and it is not limited to projects.
He said that the government would continue its strong fight against corruption by bringing necessary reforms and through strict enforcement of rules and regulations.
"We want to ensure strict monitoring and evaluation in procurement and also in project implementation," he added.
Asked about the major challenges ahead of the economy, Mannan opined that all concerned stakeholders need to ensure political and social stability so that the country's economy is not affected.
He also mentioned that the present Awami League government puts the due priority on education, health, infrastructure, power, energy and agriculture sector while efforts are always on to fast-track project formulation and implementation in such sectors.
