IMF, WB now give more importance to Bangladesh: Muhith

The IMF and the World Bank now attach greater importance to the views of Bangladesh and other developing countries, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said while speaking to reporters on the final day of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group in Washington DC.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim’s upcoming trip to Bangladesh was another sign of this shift, said the minister.

He stated that one reason for the change in policy was the organisations’ greater attentiveness to the larger populations of these countries.

“GDP growth has slowed in developed countries. Some are even experiencing negative growth,” he said. “On the other hand, developing countries like Bangladesh have made substantial gains. In the past few years our average GDP growth rate has been over 6.5 percent. Now it is 7 percent. It will grow even faster in the future.”

“This is particularly important because it is the world’s poor who are experiencing the gains from this growth,” he said.

The minister believes that this is why the IMF and World Bank pay greater heed to the opinions of developing countries.

He welcomed the change and said the two organisations were doing the right thing in the global environment, according to a news agency.