It is the same news as above, but, a little elaborate.
Per Capita annual income crosses $1000 - bdnews24.com
Per Capita annual income crosses $1000
Chief Economics Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 2013-09-04 14:23:49.0 BdST Updated: 2013-09-04 20:15:02.0 BdST
Capping its stellar performance in the social sector, Bangladesh has achieved another economic milestone.
Its per capita income has crossed $1,000-mark as the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) started calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) taking 2005-06 as the base year.
With its latest economic feat, Bangladesh now stands fourth in South Asia in terms of per capital income.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said instead of 1995-96 that has so far been used as the base year for these calculations, 2005-06 will be used as base year from now on.
The new base year will be used to calculate GDP as has been done to work out the rate of inflation.
“Bangladesh’s annual per capita income has risen to $1,044 in 2012-13 fiscal year from $923 after the base year was altered,” Muhith said.
BBS Joint Director Abul Kalam Azad presented a report on changing the base year.
With 2005-06 as the base year, the 2012-13 fiscal’s GDP growth would stand at 6.18 percent primarily but with the old 1995-96 base year, the growth would be 6.03 percent.
The new base year calculation has increased the GDP size by 13 percent compared to old base year, Azad said.
After independence, GDP estimation started with 1972-73 as the first base year. In 1993, GDP calculation started with 1984-85 as the base. Since 2000, such calculations were done with 1995-96 as base year.
With base year change, information of a total of 124 crops production, including 24 new crops in the agriculture sub-sector, have been included. This will increase the ‘Gross Value Added’ (GVA) by nearly nine percent in the farm sector, according to the report.
GVA in the industries and public service sectors will increase by five percent and 16 percent respectively, it said.
Muhith said: “Our social sector performance is getting better by the day and that is reflecting on the economy. That is why there is a rise in per capita income.”
The ruling Awami League-led government treated statistics as sacrosanct and was trying to keep it ‘above politics’, he contended.
According to him, various new sectors had been added with the change in the base year, which would increase GDP growth to some extent.
The government aims at achieving 7.2 percent GDP growth (calculated on the old base year) in the current fiscal – an ambitious but not unattainable target, he would imagine.
Sri Lanka with an annual per capita income of $2,923 in 2012-13 tops the South Asian countries.
India’s per capita income of $1,527 may be somewhat eroded by the fall in the value of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, much the same way as Pakistan’s annual per capita income that now stands at $1,380.
India is the world’s fourth largest economy but ranks 94th in per capita income in the world.
Having a per capita income of at least $1,190 is one of the three conditions to shake off the Least Developed Countries (LDC) tag. Bangladesh will also have to show considerable development in economic stability and human resource index as well.
The Cabinet approved a ‘work plan’ last month to achieve the three goals.
A recent World Bank report shows Bangladesh’s successes in social security and poverty alleviation over the past several years.
“Bangladesh Poverty Assessment” published in June said Bangladesh would attain the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in poverty alleviation within 2013.
In 1990, around 57 percent Bangladeshis lived below the poverty line. The MDG aims at reducing the rate to 28.5 percent by 2015.
Analysing information of the past decade, the World Bank believes Bangladesh would be able to reach the goal two years before the deadline.
The report said the country’s poverty rate came down successively based on its purchase ability.
In 2000, there were 63 million poor people in Bangladesh. The number came down to 55 million five years later and stood at 47 million in 2010.
According to the World Bank, the number of poor would go down two percent by 2015 to around 26 percent. The poverty rate is below 27 percent at present in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh achieved this success due to two reasons, the Washington-based global lender believes. They are a hike in wage in both public and private sectors in the past decade. The other is the decline of people ‘dependent on others’ due to a slow population growth.
The per capita income has increased by $414 from $630 in 2008.
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GDP growth rises to 6.18pc, per capita income $ 1044 :: Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
Impact of new base year, change in product basket
GDP growth rises to 6.18pc, per capita income $ 1044
Published : Thursday, 05 September 2013
Jasim Uddin Haroon
The country's per capita income has shot up to $1044 in the fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 from $923 following the change of the base year for calculation of the major macro-economic indicators, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told the media on Wednesday.
Earlier, he attended a projection event on the nation's annual per capita income, organised by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in Dhaka.
"Our social sector performance is getting better by the day, which has been reflected on the economy. That is why there is a rise in per capita income," the minister said.
Dwelling on the country's crossing the per capita income threshold past the US$ 1000 mark, the finance minister said, "Bangladesh is faring better in different sectors including social safety net."
The government has started using 2005-06 as base year lately to calculate the gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation instead of 1995-96. The finance minister said the government has kept statistics above politics, adding the new base year would be used to calculate GDP.
The country's per capita income has increased by $414 over the last five years. The per capita income was $630 in 2008.
Bangladesh has set a target to emerge as a middle-income country by 2021 through raising the per capita income to US$ 2,000.
In the meantime, the growth rate of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has risen to 6.18 per cent in fiscal year (FY) 2012-13 as per the estimate based on new base year 2005-06. The increase in the GDP growth is just 0.15 percentage point higher than that of the old base year 1995-96.
The Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the national statistical organisation, disclosed this Wednesday while unveiling its new base line of 2005-06.
The BBS organised an inter-ministerial meeting at its headquarters in the city on the day to discuss the issue.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK Khandker, Food Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas joined the meeting held at the Parishankhyan Bhavan in the city.
Finance minister AMA Muhith said the new GDP estimate and new baseline would be acceptable to all.
"I believe, BBS's work and the new GDP estimate will be accepted by all concerned," the finance minister added.
Planning minister AK Khandker said the new base line would reflect the accurate picture of the economy.
However, the volume of the country's GDP went up by more than $18 billion in the last fiscal (2012-13) to US$ 151 billion in nominal terms under the new baseline estimate.
The figure represents a 13 per cent increase in the size of the GDP of the last fiscal over that of the same year, measured according to the old baseline of 1995-96.
Bangladesh's per capita income has gone up to $1044 in line with the expansion of the GDP size in 2012-13. Under the old base year, the per capita income was $923 in 2012-13.
The BBS said the savings-investment gap would narrow sharply following the rise in investment according to the new base year calculation.
But the BBS could not give details about the investment scenario under the new baseline. It said it would give details in this connection later.
The new base, however, included nearly 150 new products and services.
The agriculture and forestry sector alone contributed 24 new crops to the GDP measurement. The total number of agricultural products now stood at 124 under the new base year.
BBS said gross value addition from the agriculture sector has increased by 9.0 per cent following inclusion of the new products.
It said gross value addition from the industrial sector has increased by 5.0 per cent after inclusion of new products including mineral water, mobile phone services and power sub-sectors.
In the financial intermediation sector, the new entrants are micro-credit, cooperative banking, Central Depository Bangladesh Limited, insurance agents and house building financing.
Technical committee members including its chairman Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud participated in the programme.
The committee in July last approved the new base year of 2005-06 instead of 1995-96 with the revision of product and services basket.
There are 15 sectors to measure the GDP. It will reach 21 under the SNA requirement.
The BBS is now being guided by the 'system of national accounting' (SNA)-1993 of the UN Statistical Commission, established in 1947, as the apex entity of the global statistical system and the highest decision making body for coordinating international statistical activities.
It has planned to adopt SNA 2008 of UN Statistical Commission to measure GDP.
Updating the base year through revising the GDP estimate became essential for various reasons, including newer economic activities, progressive expansion and downsizing of different industries and economic sectors over the years.
Secretary to the statistics and informatics division under the ministry of planning, Nazibur Rahman, Planning Commission member Shamsul Islam and other high officials of the ministries concerned were also present at the function.
