Bangladesh economy is on right track: IMF director

Mentioning various measures of the government to address macroeconomic challenges, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director for the Asia and Pacific Krishna Srinivasan has observed that Bangladesh economy is on the right track.

"I think, the economy is on right track in terms of meeting the objective of programme, getting inflation under control and addressing macroeconomic challenges given in difficult global environment," Srinivasan said on Friday at a press conference titled "Economic Outlook for Asia Pacific" as part of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF at Marrakesh, Morocco.

Responding to a question, Krishna Srinivasan said the authorities in Bangladesh have taken significant measures to address macroeconomic challenges.

"They have tightened monetary policy to reduce inflation. They have allowed more flexible exchange rate," he said.

Srinivasan focused on increasing revenue collection to support both development objectives and infrastructure objectives.

He mentioned that every country of the region including Bangladesh has been facing challenges due to global crisis.

The countries must redouble their efforts to advance growth-enhancing reforms, he said.

Raising government revenue ratios from low levels would allow for additional spending on important needs such as education and infrastructure, while keeping public debt in check, he added.

He said strengthening multilateral and regional cooperation and mitigating the effects of geo-economic fragmentation are vital for Asia's economic outlook in coming years.

To that end, Srinivasan said, reforms that lower nontariff trade barriers, boost connectivity, and improve business environments are essential to attract more foreign and domestic investment across the region.