Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has expressed confidence that Bangladesh’s economy, including the energy sector, will stabilize by the second year of the government’s tenure, paving the way for stronger economic growth in subsequent years.
“By the end of the second year, everything should be stabilized, including the energy sector. The third year should be about to take off, and the fourth and fifth years will be the take-off period,” he said.
The minister made the remarks at a high-level luncheon meeting titled “Sustainable Power and Energy: Driving Investment in Bangladesh,” organized by the Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Dhaka recently.
Acknowledging the economic challenges facing the country, Khosru said the government had confronted a major energy crisis within a week of taking office following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
The crisis came on top of inherited financial liabilities and longstanding structural weaknesses.
“We have not done a great job, but we have not done too badly considering the crisis,” he said, estimating that the government had already faced an additional financial burden of around US$7 billion due to the energy crisis.
