Economy Overview
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups also have blocked progress. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. On an encouraging note, growth has been a steady 5-6% for the past several years.
Agriculture Products
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
Industries
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial Production Growth Rate
7.2% (2006 est.)
Electricity production
21.35 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity Consumption
19.49 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity Exports
0 kWh (2005)
Electricity Imports
0 kWh (2005)
Unemployment Rate
2.5% (includes underemployment) (2006 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
45% (2004 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 3.7%
Highest 10%: 27.9% (2000 est.)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
33.4 (2000)
Budget
Revenues: $6.633 billion
Expenditures: $9.34 billion (2006 est.)
Public Debt
39.6% of GDP (2006 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$3.61 billion (2006)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$3.877 billion (2006 est.)
Debt External
$19.59 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$4.208 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$105 million (2006 est.)
Exchange Rates
taka per US dollar - 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002)
