Economy Overview
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains one of the world's poorest, most densely populated, and least developed nations. The economy is largely agricultural, with the cultivation of rice the single most important activity in the economy. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), inadequate power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed's Awami League government has made some headway improving the climate for foreign investors and liberalizing the capital markets; for example, it has negotiated with foreign firms for oil and gas exploration, better countrywide distribution of cooking gas, and the construction of natural gas pipelines and power plants. Progress on other economic reforms has been halting because of opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The especially severe floods of 1998 increased the country's reliance on large-scale international aid. So far the East Asian financial crisis has not had major impact on the economy.
Agriculture Products
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes; beef, milk, poultry, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit
Industries
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial Production Growth Rate
2.5% (1997 est.)
Electricity production
12.5 billion kWh (1999 est.)
Electricity production by source
Fossil fuel: 98%
Hydro: 2%
Nuclear: 0%
Other: 0% (1999)
Electricity Consumption
11.039 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (1999)
Currency
1 taka (Tk) = 100 poisha
Unemployment Rate
35.2% (1996)
Population Below Poverty Line
35.6% (FY95/96 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 4.1%
Highest 10%: 23.7% (1992)
Budget
Revenues: $4.3 billion
Expenditures: $6.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
Debt External
$16.5 billion (1998)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
taka (Tk) per US$1 - 51.000 (January 2000), 49.085 (1999), 46.906 (1998), 43.892 (1997), 41.794 (1996), 40.278 (1995)
