DPA
Bangladesh has incurred a financial loss of $1.4bn as a result of the political unrest in the run-up to its January parliamentary election, the World Bank said yesterday.
The service sector bore 86% of the loss, which comes as a result of strikes taking place in November and December. Industrial losses accounted for 11% of the figure, while the agriculture sector bore the remaining 3%.
Despite the loss, the bank forecast Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 5.4% during the financial year ending June 30.
Zahid Hussain, lead economist of the World Bank in Dhaka, said the predicted GDP growth was satisfactory considering the political unrest and slowing economic growth in other developing countries.
“(It is) slightly higher than the average for developing countries but lower than last year’s 6.2%,” said Hussain.
The violence that gripped Bangladesh in the run-up to the January 5 election resulted in nearly 100 deaths.
The unrest was initiated by the opposition and its right-wing allies, which were calling for the installation of a non-partisan caretaker administration to ensure independent elections.