Emerging as a Middle Income Country by 2021: An Analysis of Key Macroeconomic Issues of Bangladesh

This paper analyses few key macroeconomic issues and outlines the challenges that Bangladesh may face on its journey towards sustainable middle income county Bangladesh has experienced a steadv moderately higher macro-economic growth with stable income inequality at relatively higher level and recorded substantial reduction in poverty rate at national poverty measure and right track in achieving some MDGs in the past two decades. Despite such progressive development in socio-economic and human development, Bangladesh has recorded a very low per capita income with higher unemployment, higher savingsinvestment gap and low capital deepening and economic density with higher ICOR. Based on data from secondary sources, the paper explains that creation of more business opportunities, ensuring prudential investment climate, retaining remittances at 8% o f GDP, maintaining sustained GDP growth rate at 7.5% to lo%, greater PPP in building infrastructure and delivery of public services, increasing inflow of FDlJrom current 0.09 % of GDe addressing hard-core poverty, disparities, inequalities, rural-urban migration are the major challenges for Bangladesh in achieving the middle income statzis by 2021. An integrated and multi-pronged macroeconomic pamework focusing on domestic resource mobilization, higher investment on human and physical capital formation, increasing productive employment and TF? commercialization of agriculture, promoting agro-based rural SMEs, redesigning of resource allocation for acceleration of poverty reduction, promoting public-private partnership, sound financial management for smooth functioning I Additional Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh and MDS, Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC), Sovar, Dhaka Banglndesh Jourrial ofPzthlic Adn~biistr.ation of market forces, ensuring responsive and inclusive governance can foster. the pace towards its journey.