The Jatiya Sangsad yesterday passed a thanksgiving motion unanimously praising the outstanding contribution of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in helping Bangladesh become a lower-middle income country and also turning it into a middle-income country in the light of Vision-21, reports BSS.
The lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches congratulated the Prime Minister for her efficient and dynamic leadership in leading the country towards development. They said if the development trend continues, Bangladesh would reach the status of a middle-income country within the next three years.
They took part in a discussion on a proposal of treasury bench member Abdur Razzak for passage of a thanksgiving motion on Sheikh Hasina’s contribution in helping Bangladesh to reach the status of a lower-middle income country now.  “Bangladesh is heading towards development under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina and no evil attempt would deter the progress trend of the country,” the Finance Minister said while taking part in the discussion.
He said Bangladesh, meanwhile, showed success in economic sector that was also lauded by the international quarters with the dignity of lower-middle income country.
“Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman started the mission to build a prosperous Sonar Bangla in 1971 and subsequently the country started gaining success in all sectors under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina,” Muhith said. Tofail Ahmed criticized the previous negative remarks of various global organisations including the World Bank against Bangladesh and said all those sneering observations turned out to be false and “We aren’t fully depended on foreign aids right now.”
He said “Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to establish a self-reliant country and his daughter was now proceeding towards that goal. I am sure Bangladesh will become a self-dignified and developed country within the shortest possible time,” he said. Matia Chowdhury was critical about the WB’s “imaginative corruption allegation” on the construction of Padma multipurpose bridge and said, “It does not matter whether it (WB) recognizes anything or not.”
She said they (WB) strongly opposed subsidy in agriculture but Bangladesh gained self-sufficiency in food due to pragmatic policies of the Prime Minister by providing subsidy in the agriculture sector.
The agriculture minister also thanked the Prime Minister for helping Bangladesh reach the status of a lower middle-income country by way of her relentless efforts to fulfill the Vision-2021 leading to the Vision-2041.
Participating in the discussion, the lawmakers described various indicators mentioned by the World Bank in a posting on its website and said, it revises the income classification of the world’s economies every year on July 1 through calculation using the World Bank Atlas method.
The lawmakers said as per the World Bank, Bangladesh has become a lower middle-income country with the WB’s method of per capita income ranging from $1,046 to $4,125.
WB said Bangladesh would reach the status of a middle-income country when the per capita income ranges from $4,126 to $12,736. The country has now been enlisted as a lower-middle state with its per capita income, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), at $1,314 now from $1,190. “Bangladesh’s economy now stands on the 35th position in the world. After the Independence, Bangladesh was a country of lower income status for over 40 years. The country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) is now $461.6 billion, which was only $246.5 billion in 2005,” Abdur Razzak said.
Despite the world economic recession, frequent destructive politics including arson and petrol bomb attacks and deep-rooted conspiracies of the anti-liberation forces, he said a very significant progress was made over the last few years under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
“This economic development is a milestone indeed, which Bangladesh feels proud of,” Razzak said quoting the World Bank. He said the country achieved tremendous progress not only for the national income, but also for other indicators including GDP, foreign reserve, remittances, inflation export income and investment that cut the poverty rate and reduced social discrimination.