GDP growth 6.07% in Q1 FY24

The gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated 6.07% in the first quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year.

The growth in the last fiscal year stood at 5.78% in the final count, lower than official projection, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said.

For the first time on Thursday, the official statistical agency released quarterly GDP growth data of a current fiscal year.

The release of quarterly GDP data followed the government's decision taken in November 2020 and later advised by the International Monetary Fund.

The first quarter growth of the current fiscal FY24 was slower than 6.24% growth posted in the last quarter of FY23 and much lower year-on-year. The GDP growth of Q1 of the past fiscal year (FY23) was staggering 8.76%, which fell to below 6% for the whole fiscal year due to poor performance in the third quarter.

Agriculture sector posted a drastic fall in growth to 0.84% in Q1 of FY24, which was 3.47% in the previous quarter. The growth was 2.07% in Q1 of the last year.

The industry sector also recorded a fall in quarterly growth, to 9.67% in Q1 of the current fiscal year from the last quarter's 11.41%, while it was 7.17% a year before.

However, the service sector posted a positive trend, with Q1 growth recorded at 3.96%, up from 2.87% in the last quarter of the previous year. But the growth was drastically lower from the Q1 of FY23, when the service sector grew 12.87%.

Earlier in January this year, the World Bank forecast 5.6% growth in FY24.