Economic indicators maintain steady improvements: MCCI

Terming the country's overall economic situation as positive, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said all major economic indicators maintain steady improvements, reports BSS.
"The country experienced stable economic growth, inflation was under control, the exchange rate remained stable, and foreign exchange reserves rose and remained at comfortable level," said the country's leading chamber in its review-Economic Situation in Bangladesh (October-December 2016 period). It said the agriculture sector performed well, but continuous government support with inputs and finance will be needed to sustain the sector's growth. 
Infrastructure deficits and gas and power supply problems were undermining the performance of the manufacturing as well as the agriculture sector, it said, adding that the government will need to adopt suitable measures to remove these bottlenecks in order to support the growth of these two all-important sectors.
About agriculture, it said this sector is expected to perform well in the present fiscal because of the government's strong commitment to support the growth of agriculture with timely availability of inputs and finance.
The broad industrial sector grew by 11.09 per cent in FY16, compared to 9.67 per cent in FY15, it said and added that, the share of the industry sector in GDP increased by 1.12 percentage points to 31.54 per cent in FY16 from 30.42 per cent in FY15. Manufacturing activities showed signs of improvement, thanks to the peaceful political situation in the country, it said, adding that the manufacturing sub-sector grew by 11.69 per cent in FY16, 1.38 percentage points higher than the previous fiscal year's 10.31 per cent.
The large and medium scale industries sub-sector performed much better than small scale industries, the former growing by 12.26 per cent in FY16, compared to 10.70 per cent in FY15, and the latter by 9.06 per cent, compared to 8.54 per cent in FY15, it added.
MCCI said the services sectors were doing well but these will also need government support in specific areas. Most importantly, the political harmony in the country should be maintained in order to achieve the government's growth and inflation targets, it said.
To achieve the planned target of becoming a middle-income country (MIC) by 2021, the government will need to increase the rate of economic growth, accelerate export, and attract more investments as well as improve the overall infrastructure, it said.
"To attain faster economic growth, the government will have to improve the country's road and rail infrastructure, develop port facilities, increase power and gas production, and remove other infrastructure bottlenecks," it observed.
At the same time, the MCCI said impediments such as the delay in implementation of development projects, lack of skilled manpower and absence of decentralized government administration must be removed to restore the confidence of the country's business and investor community.

Economic indicators maintain steady improvements: MCCI

Terming the countrys overall economic situation as positive, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) said all major economic indicators maintain steady improvements, reports BSS. The country experienced stable economic growth, inflation was under control, the exchange rate remained stable, and foreign exchange reserves rose and remained at comfortable level, said the countrys leading chamber in its review-Economic Situation in Bangladesh (October-December 2016 period). It said the agriculture sector performed well, but continuous government support with inputs and finance will be needed to sustain the sectors growth. Infrastructure deficits and gas and power supply problems were undermining the performance of the manufacturing as well as the agriculture sector, it said, adding that the government will need to adopt suitable measures to remove these bottlenecks in order to support the growth of these two all-important sectors. About agriculture, it said this sector is expected to perform well in the present fiscal because of the governments strong commitment to support the growth of agriculture with timely availability of inputs and finance. The broad industrial sector grew by 11.09 per cent in FY16, compared to 9.67 per cent in FY15, it said and added that, the share of the industry sector in GDP increased by 1.12 percentage points to 31.54 per cent in FY16 from 30.42 per cent in FY15. Manufacturing activities showed signs of improvement, thanks to the peaceful political situation in the country, it said, adding that the manufacturing sub-sector grew by 11.69 per cent in FY16, 1.38 percentage points higher than the previous fiscal years 10.31 per cent. The large and medium scale industries sub-sector performed much better than small scale industries, the former growing by 12.26 per cent in FY16, compared to 10.70 per cent in FY15, and the latter by 9.06 per cent, compared to 8.54 per cent in FY15, it added. MCCI said the services sectors were doing well but these will also need government support in specific areas. Most importantly, the political harmony in the country should be maintained in order to achieve the governments growth and inflation targets, it said. To achieve the planned target of becoming a middle-income country (MIC) by 2021, the government will need to increase the rate of economic growth, accelerate export, and attract more investments as well as improve the overall infrastructure, it said. To attain faster economic growth, the government will have to improve the countrys road and rail infrastructure, develop port facilities, increase power and gas production, and remove other infrastructure bottlenecks, it observed. At the same time, the MCCI said impediments such as the delay in implementation of development projects, lack of skilled manpower and absence of decentralized government administration must be removed to restore the confidence of the countrys business and investor community.