FT ONLINE

Bangladesh Bank is expecting that the growth rate of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will achieve an 8.20 percent target in the current fiscal year (FY20).

The Bangladesh Bank Quarterly, released on Wednesday, made the prediction despite mentioning a number of downside risks.

“Looking ahead, the economic growth outlook is expected to remain strong at the targeted level (8.2 percent) and inflation remains at below the targeted level (5.5 percent) in FY20,” said the central bank’s report.

The report, however, pointed out that some external and internal factors ‘are the likelihood of downside risk of economic growth prospect’.

The external risk factors include sluggish global growth, disrupting supply chain by the escalating trade war, Brexit-related uncertainty, and rising geopolitical tension.

According to the central bank, domestic risk factors are managing high Non-Performing Loan (NPL) and tight liquidity conditions mainly due to slower growth of deposit.

“A coordinated monetary and fiscal policy is required ensuring growth momentum and stable inflation,” it suggested.