New govt needs to explore potential sectors of economy: FinMin

Noting that the main challenge of the new government would be to maintain the countrys economy, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday said the government would have to explore the potential sectors of the economy.

"The government will have to emphasize more on revenue mobilization," he said.

The Finance Minister said this while exchanging pleasantries with the journalists at his secretariat office after his victory from Cumilla in the just concluded 12th national election.
"There are many areas to move ahead the economy of Bangladesh side by side there are some areas in the economy which are yet to be unveiled in full scale and some components which are yet to be explored. The government will have to work more on these issues," he added.

The Finance Minister said the countrys current foreign exchange reserves are in good condition compared to other countries. "Ill claim its good," he said.

Kamal said the main priority of the new Finance Minister would be to mobilize more revenues, adding that the government has bigger plans to augment the revenue collection.

Noting that the main strength of the countrys economy is the foreign currency reserve, he said either the gross or net, the foreign currency reserve is still in a good position.

He said although the countrys foreign currency reserve at one point reached $48 billion, it has declined in recent times. "But efforts will be there so that it doesn fall below $30 billion mark."

"The annual loan of Bangladesh is not equal to the annual inward remittances. For this, there is nothing to be worried about. Besides, income is also coming from goods and services," he added.

Answering to a question, the Finance Minister said many reforms have been brought into the banking sector of Bangladesh while the banking sector is now in a better state. "Although there are some isolated incidents, such things will be dealt with in future...Bangladesh is moving ahead and will continue to move."

Mentioning that the trend of Non Performing Loans (NPLs) is now less, Kamal said Bangladesh would become the 20th economy of the world in 2041.

Responding to another question, he said that the economy would not move ahead if there is no inflation. "Those who don delve into the economy, continue to say many things over inflation," he added.

BSS adds: The Finance Minister mentioned that in some 8 to 10 years of the three successive terms of Awami League government, the general point to point inflation remained below 6 percent and the situation could not have been better than this.

Replying to another question, he said it is the Prime Minister who would decide who would be the new finance minister of the new government. "But whoever becomes the new finance minister, he will continue to work for infusing more dynamism into the economy," he added.