World Bank trims Bangladesh growth outlook to 4 pct in fiscal 2024-25

DHAKA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — The World Bank has lowered its 2024-25 fiscal year (July 2024-June 2025) economic growth outlook for Bangladesh mainly due to the South Asian country’s political instability.
The global lender in a report titled “South Asia Development Update for October 2024” released on Thursday has forecast a 4 percent growth for Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year — down from 5.2 percent forecast earlier.
This major reduction in growth comes after significant uncertainties around the political and economic outlook following the July-August political turmoil.
In the medium to long term, the lender expects growth to gradually recover, supported by key reforms in the financial sector, increased domestic resource mobilization, improved business climate, and expanded trade.
For fiscal 2025-26, the bank forecasts Bangladesh’s economy to grow by 5.5 percent.
Bangladesh and the Maldives are the two of the South Asian countries for which the global lender has downgraded growth projections.
The revision for Bangladesh also comes weeks after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) lowered its growth forecast for Bangladesh to 5.1 percent for the current fiscal year, citing supply chain disruptions caused by political unrest in July and August. ■