By NNN-Xinhua
Dhaka : Bangladesh has the potential to join the ranks of middle-income countries (MICs) with the per capita gross national income (GNI) of 875 U.S. dollars by 2016, local newspaper The Financial Express reported Friday.
A World Bank (WB) report titled "Bangladesh: strategy for sustained growth" revealed Thursday to reach that level, the country needs to attain sustained gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 7.5 percent.
The country's per-capita GNI was recorded at 520 U.S. dollars in fiscal 2006-07 (from July 2006 to June 2007).
Finance and Planning Adviser AB Mirza Md Azizul Islam said at the report launching function: "I do believe that attaining of a sustained GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent is very much within the reach of the country."
"We have already initiated many reforms, including domestic resources mobilization, economic governance and trade reforms to accelerate the growth rate," he said.
WB Country Director Xian Zhu stressed that a rapid transition to the MIC status would demand a consistent political commitment.
Bangladesh has necessary assets to achieve the rapid transition to the MIC status in the form of much improved economic fundamentals, the report revealed.
Despite the widely acknowledged and critical weaknesses in governance, Bangladesh has an impressive record of achievement, especially in harnessing sound economic and social policies to pioneering social entrepreneurship, said the report.
It also mentioned the successful management of three transitions-from agriculture to labor-intensive manufacturing, rural to growing urbanization and closed economy to global integration. These will be the key to the achievement of Bangladesh's MIC aspirations, it said.