Strategy towards Bangladesh’s Sustainable LDC Graduation

Abstract

Bangladesh’s graduation prospects di er from those of the earlier graduates and the current candidate LDCs. This is revealed by relevant indicators concerning the 20 countries ( five LDC graduates and 15 candidate LDCs which are expected to graduate by 2024) which were reviewed by the CDP in 2015. Dispersion between the threshold and actual score on EVI for most countries, especially small island countries, was found to be significantly high (Figure 1). It is to be conceded that, a high GNI per capita with relatively low HAI and EVI or a relatively low GNI per capita with high HAI and EVI could put under question the long-run sustainability of LDC graduation of a country. Therefore, for an LDC, the relative advantage of a more balanced pathway to graduation, with a good track record in terms of all the three criteria, cannot be overemphasised. From this perspective, Bangladesh, with the likelihood of crossing all the three graduation thresholds, maintaining a significant comfort zone, is on a firm footing. This scenario demonstrates the strength of Bangladesh’s economy as the country prepares to graduate in 2024 following two successive triennial reviews. Against this backdrop, the government of Bangladesh should consider designing a strategy towards sustainable LDC graduation. This policy brief elaborates upon Bangladesh’s unique characteristics and the distinctive context for its journey towards graduation, examines the implications of graduation for Bangladesh’s economy and identifies core elements of a strategy that will enable the country to graduate with momentum.