Bangladesh\`s economy to be 25th largest by 2035

Bangladesh is heading to become the world's 25th largest economy in 2035_ says a recent report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). By 2025_ it will be the 34th largest economy in the world and will continue with the 2nd place in South Asia.

According to the UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR)_ the size of the economy will nearly treble to $855 billion in 2035 from $301 billion in 2020 in US dollar constant prices.

In current terms_ Bangladesh will become more than a trillion-dollar economy before the period_ showed the latest edition of the World Economic League Table of the think-tank.

In its annual league table on the growth prospects of 193 countries_ the consultancy group said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic_ Bangladesh was able to escape a contraction in 2020.

The rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Bangladesh is anticipated to have dipped to 3.8 per cent in 2020. This compares to 8.2 per cent GDP growth recorded in 2019.

Government debt as a share of GDP rose to 39.6 per cent in 2020_ which remains a low level. The government operated a fiscal deficit of 6.8 per cent in 2020_ facilitated in part by the low debt to GDP ratio.

"This will have bolstered the economy in the past months_" the report said.

Between 2021 and 2025_ the annual rate of GDP growth will accelerate to an average of 6.8 per cent. However_ over the remainder of the forecast horizon_ economic growth is expected to decline to an average of 6.5 per cent per year.

Bangladesh had a purchasing power parity-adjusted GDP per capita of $5_139 in 2020_ making it a lower-middle-income country.

Bangladesh came 168th in the World Bank's 2020 Ease of Doing Business rankings_ suggesting that the regulatory environment is not conducive to a thriving private sector_ the think-tank said.

The CEBR said the economy enjoyed a strong rate of GDP growth in the years leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic_ despite a modest rate of population growth_ which averaged just 1 per cent per year over the past five years.

While the harm to public health inflicted by the pandemic has been relatively limited_ the effect of the outbreak on global demand and international supply chains means that the economic damage has been considerable.

China will overtake the US to become the world's largest economy by 2028_ five years earlier than previously forecast_ the report said.

India is tipped to become the third-largest economy by 2030 and Pakistan will be placed at 36th in 2035. Sri Lanka will become the 67th largest economy and Nepal will be placed at 95th.

Japan would remain the world's third-biggest economy until the early 2030s_ when it will be overtaken by India_ pushing Germany down from fourth to fifth. The United Kingdom_ currently the fifth-biggest economy by the CEBR's measure_ would slip to sixth place from 2024.