Bangladesh goes one step forward

[extra terrestrial]

Bangladesh yesterday graduated from the low income status to lower middle income nation (LMIC), meeting the World Bank's requirements comfortably.

This will be seen as a giant leap forward for the country to become a middle income nation after being bracketed as a low income country for decades.

The promotion came on the back of the country's stride towards higher per capita income in recent years, riding on stable economic growth.

The WB used last year's data to determine this year's ranking.

On July 1 each year, the WB revises the income classification of world's economies based on estimates of GNI per capita for the previous year.

Bangladesh's per capita income was $1,080 in 2014 in line with the World Bank's gross national income (GNI) -- higher than the Washington-based lender's set threshold of $1,045.

Myanmar, Kenya and Tajikistan also graduated to the LMIC status this year.

“This is a milestone in the progress on the journey towards reaching a comfortable middle income status,” said Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank in Dhaka.

He said the country could be proud that it was no longer a low income nation.

“But the journey on the road to middle income status has just begun. Moving into the LMIC category is a formal recognition of the start,” he told The Daily Star last night.

The government has targeted to be a middle income nation by 2021, when the country celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence.

Bangladesh's per capita income rose to $1,314 in the fiscal year which ended on June 30, according to provisional figures of the government. It was $1,190 in 2013-14 and $1,154 in 2012-13.

At present, the WB recognises a country as a middle income nation if it achieves at least an average per capita income of $1,045 for three consecutive years.

The WB currently divides economies into four income groups: low, lower middle, upper middle and high.

A country is categorised as a low income one if its GNI is less than $1,045, lower middle income country if the GNI is $1,046-$4,125, higher middle income when the GNI is $4,126-$12,735 and higher income country if the GNI is more than $12,735.

The WB uses the Atlas conversion factor instead of simple exchange rates in calculating GNI in US dollars. The purpose of the Atlas conversion factor is to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of national incomes.

The Atlas conversion factor for any year is the average of a country's exchange rate for that year and its exchange rates for the two preceding years, adjusted for the difference between the rate of inflation in the country and international inflation, according to the WB.

The objective of the adjustment is to reduce any changes to the exchange rate caused by inflation.

Bangladesh goes one step forward | The Daily Star

 

[Saiful Islam]

Mashuaalllaaahh, I hope our country prospers even more. This is great news

 

[FaujHistorian]

Bangladesh yesterday graduated from the low income status to lower middle income nation (LMIC), meeting the World Bank's requirements comfortably.

This will be seen as a giant leap forward for the country to become a middle income nation after being bracketed as a low income country for decades.

The promotion came on the back of the country's stride towards higher per capita income in recent years, riding on stable economic growth.

The WB used last year's data to determine this year's ranking.

On July 1 each year, the WB revises the income classification of world's economies based on estimates of GNI per capita for the previous year.

Bangladesh's per capita income was $1,080 in 2014 in line with the World Bank's gross national income (GNI) -- higher than the Washington-based lender's set threshold of $1,045.

Myanmar, Kenya and Tajikistan also graduated to the LMIC status this year.

“This is a milestone in the progress on the journey towards reaching a comfortable middle income status,” said Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank in Dhaka.

He said the country could be proud that it was no longer a low income nation.

“But the journey on the road to middle income status has just begun. Moving into the LMIC category is a formal recognition of the start,” he told The Daily Star last night.

The government has targeted to be a middle income nation by 2021, when the country celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence.

Bangladesh's per capita income rose to $1,314 in the fiscal year which ended on June 30, according to provisional figures of the government. It was $1,190 in 2013-14 and $1,154 in 2012-13.

At present, the WB recognises a country as a middle income nation if it achieves at least an average per capita income of $1,045 for three consecutive years.

The WB currently divides economies into four income groups: low, lower middle, upper middle and high.

A country is categorised as a low income one if its GNI is less than $1,045, lower middle income country if the GNI is $1,046-$4,125, higher middle income when the GNI is $4,126-$12,735 and higher income country if the GNI is more than $12,735.

The WB uses the Atlas conversion factor instead of simple exchange rates in calculating GNI in US dollars. The purpose of the Atlas conversion factor is to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of national incomes.

The Atlas conversion factor for any year is the average of a country's exchange rate for that year and its exchange rates for the two preceding years, adjusted for the difference between the rate of inflation in the country and international inflation, according to the WB.

The objective of the adjustment is to reduce any changes to the exchange rate caused by inflation.

Bangladesh goes one step forward | The Daily Star

Great news.

 

[bongbang]

Bangladesh yesterday graduated from the low income status to lower middle income nation (LMIC), meeting the World Bank's requirements comfortably.

This will be seen as a giant leap forward for the country to become a middle income nation after being bracketed as a low income country for decades.

The promotion came on the back of the country's stride towards higher per capita income in recent years, riding on stable economic growth.

The WB used last year's data to determine this year's ranking.

On July 1 each year, the WB revises the income classification of world's economies based on estimates of GNI per capita for the previous year.

Bangladesh's per capita income was $1,080 in 2014 in line with the World Bank's gross national income (GNI) -- higher than the Washington-based lender's set threshold of $1,045.

Myanmar, Kenya and Tajikistan also graduated to the LMIC status this year.

“This is a milestone in the progress on the journey towards reaching a comfortable middle income status,” said Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank in Dhaka.

He said the country could be proud that it was no longer a low income nation.

“But the journey on the road to middle income status has just begun. Moving into the LMIC category is a formal recognition of the start,” he told The Daily Star last night.

The government has targeted to be a middle income nation by 2021, when the country celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence.

Bangladesh's per capita income rose to $1,314 in the fiscal year which ended on June 30, according to provisional figures of the government. It was $1,190 in 2013-14 and $1,154 in 2012-13.

At present, the WB recognises a country as a middle income nation if it achieves at least an average per capita income of $1,045 for three consecutive years.

The WB currently divides economies into four income groups: low, lower middle, upper middle and high.

A country is categorised as a low income one if its GNI is less than $1,045, lower middle income country if the GNI is $1,046-$4,125, higher middle income when the GNI is $4,126-$12,735 and higher income country if the GNI is more than $12,735.

The WB uses the Atlas conversion factor instead of simple exchange rates in calculating GNI in US dollars. The purpose of the Atlas conversion factor is to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of national incomes.

The Atlas conversion factor for any year is the average of a country's exchange rate for that year and its exchange rates for the two preceding years, adjusted for the difference between the rate of inflation in the country and international inflation, according to the WB.

The objective of the adjustment is to reduce any changes to the exchange rate caused by inflation.

Bangladesh goes one step forward | The Daily Star

No exact Middle income criteria by WB. Then BD is already a Middle income country. Why so much fuss that BD wont be Middle country by 2021? What are economists expecting?

 

[Homo Sapiens]

No exact Middle income criteria by WB. Then BD is already a Middle income country. Why so much fuss that BD wont be Middle country by 2021? What are economists expecting?

I think talks about 'middle income in 2021' is about achieving a comfortable margin in middle income catagory.I remember Sheikh Hasina said in 2021 Bangladesh should have 2000 usd per capita income.We are now middle income but our head is just above the water to live.

 

[bongbang]

I think talks about 'middle income in 2021' is about achieving a comfortable margin in middle income catagory.I remember Sheikh Hasina said in 2021 Bangladesh should have 2000 usd per capita income.We are now middle income but our head is just above the water to live.

Yes. Now Bangladesh data looks nice. It was with Low income tag before
Bangladesh | Data

 

[TopCat]

No exact Middle income criteria by WB. Then BD is already a Middle income country. Why so much fuss that BD wont be Middle country by 2021? What are economists expecting?

People sometimes mess up with LDC country and middle income country. We are still a LDC country.

 

[Bilal9]

People sometimes mess up with LDC country and middle income country. We are still a LDC country.

Being an LDC country is good. The quotas and GSP facilities are not available to non-LDC countries because they have significant advantages in their export basket such as high tech and heavy engg. When these last two sectors are developed then Bangladesh will cease being an LDC, just like Korea in the seventies.

Korea came up using shipbuilding and construction contracts in the Middle East. Entire Saudi and Gulf Nations had their roads, bridges and buildings built by the South Korean companies. Same with shipbuilding - they beat the Japanese in that sector by price-undercutting. Bangladesh can easily lead in these two price-competitive and labor-intensive sectors. All we need is the govt. to be responsive with tax breaks and tarriff/infrastructural support.

 

[Khalid Newazi]

I think talks about 'middle income in 2021' is about achieving a comfortable margin in middle income catagory.I remember Sheikh Hasina said in 2021 Bangladesh should have 2000 usd per capita income.We are now middle income but our head is just above the water to live.

We can have $2,000 or $5,000 but it doesn't matter if the prices of commodities sky rocket every year. Annual inflation rate is still over 9% and the Government hasn't decreased prices of oil even though there is a huge decline at the International market.

 

[asad71]

WB Update Says 10 Countries Move Up in Income Bracket


WASHINGTON, July 1, 2015 The World Banks latest estimates of Gross National Income per capita (GNI) continue to show improved economic performance in many low-income countries, with Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar, and Tajikistan now becoming lower-middle income countries, joining those with annual incomes of $1,046 to $4,125. Mongolia and Paraguay move from lower middle-income status to upper middle-income, a group with yearly income levels of $4,126 to $12,735.Beset by civil war and a national oil industry at a standstill, South Sudan has fallen out of the lower middle-income classification and back into low-income status, where average per capita incomes are $1,045 or less. The new GNI per capita rankings show that Maldives and Mongolia were the highest movers in the rankings up 13 and 8 places, respectively. Oman and Timor-Leste fell most from their 2013 ranking down 15 places for both.People living in low-income countries continue to fall behind those in the upper per capita GNI brackets, while they earn and consume significantly less than much of the worlds population. Malawi has the worlds lowest reported GNI per capita at $250, while Monaco has the highest, at more than $100,000 more than 400 times more per person on average than Malawi. In 1990, Malawis GNI per capita was $180 in 24 years its average per-capita income has increased by just $70. In the same period Norway, one of the worlds wealthiest countries, has seen its per capita income increase from $26,010 to $103,050, an increase of $77,040.Some countries have also made remarkable progress. In 1990, Vietnam was a low-income country at the bottom of the rankings, with a GNI per capita of $130. Today, the country is reliably lower-middle income, with a GNI per capita of $1,890 moving up more than 50 places in the rankings over the last 25 years.The new World Bank figures also show that Argentina, Hungary, Seychelles, and Venezuela have now moved from the upper middle income category to high income, with average per capita income levels now of $12,736 or more.Gross National Income (GNI) is a broad-based measure of income generated by a nations residents from international and domestic activity. GNI per capita measures the average amount of resources available to persons residing in a given economy, and reflects the average economic well-being of a population.Each year on July 1, the World Bank revises the income classification of the world's economies based on estimates of GNI per capita for the previous year. The World Bank also uses the updated GNI per capita estimates in its operational classification of economies that determines lending eligibility.While we need to measure development progress in different ways, income-based measures, such as GNI, remain the central yardstick for assessing economic performance,said Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. Our latest data show that in terms of this indicator, the worlds economic geography has changed a lot. In 1994, 56.1% of the worlds population 3.1 billion people - lived in the 64 low-income countries. In 2014, this was down to 8.5%, or 613 million people, living in 31 countries. It is heartening to see that over the last one year itself four nations crossed over that critical line from the low-income to the lower-middle income category.In addition to the new income-related data, other indicators have been updated in the World Development Indicators (WDI) database, including estimates of purchasing power parities for 2014, gross domestic product, balance of payments, monetary indicators, military expenditure, CO2 emissions, air traffic, foreign direct investment, merchandise trade, and more.Note that these are preliminary estimates and may be revised. Country classifications are determined once a year and remain fixed, regardless of subsequent revisions to their estimates of their GNI per capita.

See the complete list of economies classified by income, region, and lending status here:http://data.worldban...ng-groupsAccess the World Development Indicators database Release of World Development Indicators 2015 | Data
http://www.worldbank...k-to-low-income

 

[alaungphaya]

Still behind Mongolia and Paraguay with the likes of BD, Tajikistan and Kenya for company. How embarassing.

 

[TopCat]

Still behind Mongolia and Paraguay with the likes of BD, Tajikistan and Kenya for company. How embarassing.

Tajikistan and Kenya is far better than Burma.. I was surprised seeing them in the list.

 

[integra]

So this means we're in the same spectrum as India and Pakistan,
well atleast one tick mark gone off the troll brigade. Good news.

 

[HariPrasad]

Congrats BD. Thank us. We have handled your affairs from back door to prevent your country from being a radical's paradise.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Still behind Mongolia and Paraguay with the likes of BD, Tajikistan and Kenya for company. How embarassing.

Wait untill your gas export economy run out of gas in the near future.Then you will go back to your natural place as the lowest income county.