Bangladeshi Economy in the Post Partition Era

Bangladeshi Economy

Bangladesh’s per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the year 2016 was 1029.60 US dollars, equal to 8% of the global average, a never-before-recorded high. Between 1960 and 2016, the average per capita GDP of the nation was 487.18 USD. Its record low figure for GDP was recorded in the year 1972 (317.70 USD). The above figures may be compared against US and Japanese trends (Trade Economics, 2018).

The United States’ per capita GDP for the year 2016 was 52194.90 US dollars, equal to 413% of the global average, an unprecedented high. Between 1960 and 2016, the average per capita GDP of the nation was 34922.23 USD. Its record low figure for GDP was recorded in the year 1960 (17036.90 USD) (Trade Economics, 2018).

Japan’s per capita GDP for the year 2016 was 47607.70 US dollars, equal to 377% of the global average, an unprecedented high. Between 1960 and 2016, the average per capita GDP of the nation was 31629.83 USD. Its record low figure for GDP was recorded in the year 1960 (8607.70 USD).

Bangladesh enjoys a score of 55.1 on economic freedom, with its economy ranking 128th (freest) as of 2018. The nation has experienced a 0.1 point growth in overall score, improving in the areas of governmental integrity and judicial efficacy, outpacing drops in the areas of trade freedom, labor freedom and property rights. Bangladesh ranks 29th in 43 Asia-Pacific nations, with its score, on the whole, being below the world and regional averages (2018 Index of Economic Freedom, 2018).

With respect to regulation efficacy, the nation has not been sufficiently swift to implement governmental efforts at creating a superior business environment. While the procedure for acquiring electricity is turning into an easier task, it continues to be problematic. Relevant labor laws aren’t consistently enforced. Furthermore, unions are intensely politicized, with management-labor relations continuing to be unfriendly. In the year 2017, the Bangladeshi government undertook rice subsidy hikes as well as maintained controls on the prices of food, fuel, agricultural produce and energy (2018 Index of Economic Freedom, 2018).
With regard to open markets, the Bangladeshi economy gives moderate-level importance to trade. The combined import-export value is 38% of its GDP and applied tariff rate, on average, is 11.9%. Trade is hampered by non-tariff obstacles. Foreign investors’ accessibility to the Bangladeshi economy is below average. The Bank Companies Act was amended for strengthening central bank autonomy, besides reducing commercial state-owned banks’ special treatment (2018 Index of Economic Freedom, 2018).

The Bangladeshi healthcare sector displays scant concern for patient privacy (Guhathakurta & van Schendel, 2013). Privacy demands in the nation are also certainly weaker as compared to ‘Western’ nations. The nation’s impoverished population has no issues with sharing a ward (sometimes even a large hall housing almost a hundred beds) with other patients. Also, it is nearly impossible for the impoverished to afford such privacy. Still, admission to a common ward leaves patients facing unanticipated situations which threaten even these individuals’ privacy, as individual beds are located only around 4-5 feet apart. The above description highlights the dismal state of Bangladesh’s healthcare sector (Zaman, 2006)

On the whole, the Bangladeshi economy has undergone a roughly 6% annual growth for twenty years in spite of longstanding political instability, widespread corruption, a weak infrastructure, sluggish economic reform implementation, and inadequate power supply. Its fragile laws continually undermine economic growth. Marginal property rights enforcement and corruption coerce small entrepreneurs and workers into an informal economy. In spite of a certain degree of business regulation streamlining, business is impeded by a unstable regulatory climate and the lack of sound institutional support to back private-sector growth (2018 Index of Economic Freedom, 2018).

References

2018 Index of Economic Freedom (2018). Retrieved 27 April 2018 from https://www.heritage.org/index/country/bangladesh

Guhathakurta, M., & van Schendel, W. (Eds.). (2013). The Bangladesh reader: History, culture, politics. Duke University Press.

Trade Economics (2018). Bangladesh GDP per capita. Retrieved 27 April 2018 from https://tradingeconomics.com/bangladesh/gdp-per-capita

Zaman, S. (2006). Beds in a Bangladeshi hospital. Medische Antropologie, 18(1), 193-204.