Metropolitan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), one of the leading trade bodies of the country, said there is no alternative to raising investment, if Bangladesh wants attain the status of a middle income country by 2021.
Though Bangladesh's economy is progressing well, it is still below its true potentials, added the leading trade body of the country. In its quarterly economic review released yesterday MCCI pointed that inadequate infrastructure, lack of investors' confidence in the economy that discourages making fresh investments.
Mentioning the country has achieved a stable average annual growth of 6.16 percent during the last 12 years (2004-2015) it added that shortage of power and energy are now major impediments to the growth of the economy.
The leading trade body said, "There are few countries in the world who have grown consistently at more than 6.0 percent GDP for the last six years in a row." MCCI also observed that during the third quarter (January-March) of the current fiscal year (FY17), the overall economic situation in the country was positive.
This is reflected in the steady improvements in the major economic indicators. The review mentioned that the country experienced stable growth, with inflation under control and stable exchange rate during the period under review.
"During the July-March period of the present fiscal, the agriculture sector performed well, but continuous government support with inputs and finance will be needed to sustain the sector's growth in the future," it added.
"The manufacturing sector also did well, although infrastructure deficits, insufficient availability of competent manpower at managerial levels, high cost of bank loans that discourages both local and foreign investors, and gas and power supply problems were undermining the performance of the sector," it observed.
MCCI also suggested that government will need to adopt suitable measures to remove these bottlenecks in order to support the growth of this all-important sector.
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