State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY 2008‐09

The Budget for FY2009-10, expected to be presented at the session of the Bangladesh Jatyo
Sangshad on 11 June 2009, comes in the backdrop of manifold challenges that the
Bangladesh economy had to face in FY2008-09. From the perspective of macroeconomic
governance the current fiscal year has been unusual on a number of counts. While the
Caretaker Government (CTG) was in charge of macroeconomic management during the first
two quarters of FY2008-09, the last two quarters were managed under the stewardship of the
newly elected government. This transition in power within one single fiscal year injected
uncertainties both in terms of policy making and policy continuity as well as with regard to
private sector investment decisions. On a different level, macroeconomic management in
FY2008-09 also became more challenging as a consequence of the high inflationary pressure
on the economy during the first few months of the year. The need to address the adverse
impact of the ongoing global economic crisis over the subsequent period of the fiscal year
emerged as a new challenge confronting both the policymakers and the private sector.