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Although people have been hard hit by soaring prices of essentials and near-collapse of utility services, most economic indicators have shown good signs with inflation falling, current account surplus widening, industrial production rising and foodgrain output increasing.
But analysts are sceptical about the achievements of various sectors of the economy that showed albeit a positive trend during July-January period of the fiscal 2005-06, which is considered to be the most convenient part of the year for growth.
They wonder whether it will be possible to maintain a higher economic growth rate in the rest of the year as the country braces for a lingering drought and worsening power supply.
Besides, melting ice in the Himalayas might also cause flush floods in downstream Bangladesh.
It has not rained for long forcing farmers toiling hard on cracked paddy fields. Agriculture officials said the Boro paddy crop, the annual yield of which is estimated at around 14 million tonnes, is unlikely to grow as expected without proper irrigation.
Higher fuel prices and fall in ground water level have turned the situation further worse.
The analysts believe the government's growth projection of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 7.0 per cent is unlikely to be achieved.
Mirza Azizul Islam, a former official of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said in Dhaka Thursday that Bangladesh had actually achieved a six per cent GDP growth during the first seven months of the year, although the government's statistics showed it at 6.3 per cent.
The Bangladesh Bank's latest figures show the inflation on a point-to-point basis fell to 6.59 per cent in January, 2006 from 7.07 per cent in December, 2005.
The country's trade deficit narrowed during July-January period of fiscal 2005-06 to $1.493 billion on higher exports from $1.593 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year. Statistics show exports at $5.745 billion and imports at $7.238 during the period under report against $4.923 billion and $6.516 billion respectively in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
The current account balance showed a surplus of $262 million during the period against a deficit of $209 million previously, thanks to higher inflow of remittances from Bangladeshis working abroad. The remittance was worth $2.578 billion against $2.093 billion previously.
The country's foreign exchange reserves rose to $3.03 billion at the end of February from $2.823 billion in January, 2006, though lower than that of $3.179 billion in February, 2005.
Foreign aid disbursement stood at $578.71 million during the July-January period compared with a much larger volume at $896.4 million during the same period of the preceding fiscal year.
The manufacturing sector recorded a half yearly 14.06 per cent growth rate over that of the period (July-December) in 2004-05.
According to the central bank statistics, the production of foodgrains during July-January, 2005-06 stood higher at 12.65 million tonnes compared with 11.32 million tonnes during the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. The food imports dropped to 1.53 million tonnes during the period under report against 1.99 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. The foodgrains in government stocks stood at 0.809 million tonnes at the end of January, 2006 against 0.748 million tonnes at the same time of the previous year.
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