Bangladesh needs proper macroeconomic management to avoid middle income trap

Bangladesh and other graduating least-developed countries (LDCs) might not have received a clear-cut extension of the current duty-free trade benefit at the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that concluded today (June 17, 2022), but their demand was recognised at the declaration.

“Per capita income is the income that is not seen by mass people but built on a few people.”

Bangladesh has successfully met all three criteria for LDC graduation in the first review in March 2018. It is expected that Bangladesh will be able to meet the graduation criteria in the second review in 2021 and will finally graduate from the LDC status in 2024.

The government chalks out a two-day programme from today to celebrate the country's eligibility to graduate to a developing country from a least developed one.

The outlook for the United Nations' (UN) list of least developed countries (LDCs) is finally looking optimistic after 47 years of lacklustre performance since the category's establishment in 1971. There have been 52 inclusions and only five graduations to date according to the UN Committee for Development Policy's (CDP) triennial reviews. Bangladesh, an LDC, remains on track for graduation.