The Planning Commission's General Economics Division (GED) has taken up the task of formulating the Ninth Five Year Plan amid the failure to achieve the goals of growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), attraction of private investment, collection of government revenue and increase in expenditure under the Eighth Five Year Plan.
In the new plan, top priority will be given to recovery of high growth rate, increase in revenue generation and investment by restoring macroeconomic stability, Planning Commission officials said.
A high-level steering committee meeting was held at the capital's NEC convention center on Thursday (July 4) organized by the GED as part of the formulation of the ninth five-year plan.
The meeting held under the chairmanship of Planning Minister Abdus Salam was attended by State Minister for Planning Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Planning Ministry MA Mannan, members of Planning Commission and secretaries of various ministries and divisions of the government.
GED member (secretary) Dr. Md. Kausar Ahmed at the end of the meeting said, our main focus in the future will be to increase the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If this is not done, it will not be possible to take the country to high income by 2041.
He also said that if the GDP growth is to increase, a large amount of investment is required. In order to attract private investment, government spending on infrastructure development should increase. And for this, the government will need additional revenue.
In addition to infrastructure, various incentives should be given to attract private investment, he said, after transitioning from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), subsidies and incentives should be reduced. In this situation, what kind of opportunities can be given as an alternative to subsidies and incentives for investment, industrialization and exports have been discussed.
He said, in the ninth five-year plan, the promises of the current government's election manifesto are being given special importance. He also said that investment in education will be increased with special emphasis on skill development in the next plan.
Dr. Md. Kausar Ahmed said, the opportunity to get flexible loans will decrease after LDC graduation. Export incentives should be stopped. Subsidies in various sectors including agriculture and industry should also be reduced. There will also be no intellectual property concessions. Preferential Market Benefits (GSP) will come down. He also said that there will be a separate chapter on what to do to solve all these problems in the new plan.
The GED member said that priority will be given to leather and leather products, jute and jute products and agro-based industries in the future in industrialization. He also said that sector-based CMSME industries will be prioritized.
In the future, special importance will be given to the blue economy and space economy, he said, by launching new satellites, business and trade related to this will be increased.
He also said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held the first meeting in the Planning Commission regarding the responsibility of the new government. There, the Prime Minister directed to give importance to leather and leather products, jute and jute products and blue economy. He also said that all these guidelines will be reflected in the new five-year plan.
According to the review, in the eighth five-year plan to be implemented from 2020, the GDP growth in the fiscal year 2023-24 is aimed at increasing to 8.32 percent, but the growth will be 5.82 percent in the last fiscal year, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
In the current fiscal year, the five-year plan has a growth target of more than eight and a half percent, but the new budget has set a target of 6.75 percent GDP growth.
In the five-year plan, the target of bringing down the inflation rate to 4.70 percent in the outgoing financial year, the average inflation of the previous year stood at 9.73 percent till last May.