A central bank spokesman has turned down the view that the economy is in bad shape, but admitted that increasing joblessness and low-inflow of remittances in the current fiscal year will remain major concerns. While briefing newsmen on behalf of governor Dr Atiur Rahman, the spokesperson dismissed the possibilities of further erosion of the economy saying that a number of economic indicators showed maintenance of a steady growth.
Pointing out a better balance of payment situation, he expected a decline in inflation.
He said food import cost will be lower this fiscal because of adequate food grains stock.
He said balance of payment pressure is becoming lower as exports continue to rise while the reserve of foreign currency also went up in the last couple of days, mainly due to significant gain in euro and gold price.
He said the gap between export and import is not big now.
Quoting the latest BB statistics, he said the reserve crossed US$10180 million on Wednesday.
The BB spokesperson maintained that inflation  would also come down next month, as the prices of commodities, including petroleum products, are declining in the international market.
On bank borrowing by the government, he said Tk. 8,130.58 crore has been borrowed, which is still within the limit as the target of borrowing this FY is Tk 19,000 crore.
"So, there is no reason to be panicked about the state of the economy. I would say, basically, the economy is in no mess, which has been reported by several dailies recently quoting some economists," the spokesperson told reporters Thursday.  
"We felt the need for talking to the media to uphold the genuine features of the economy as such maltreated reports triggered panic among the people," he said.
He said the liquidity crisis already eased by regulatory intervention to check banks' investment in unproductive sectors. He said the central bank has advised banks to borrow from external resources for private sector's large and medium scale projects.
On the capital market, the BB spokesperson said the market is fairly valued right now.
"What the regulator (Securities and Exchange Commission) can do is to take effective initiatives to mobilise portfolio investment by attracting investment from foreign private institutions and NRBs (non-resident Bangladeshis)," he said. 
Economists and business personalities have expressed deep concerns regarding the state of the economy by saying that the rising borrowing by the government from banking system would leave a negative impact on the private sector and accelerate inflation.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 14-Oct-2011