Governor says no investment growth this FY

BB expects inflation to shrink to 5% by next year

There will be no investment growth this year, as macroeconomic stability has yet to be achieved, and the uncertain political situation will negatively impact investment. Still, the central bank aims to bring down inflation to 7–8% by June and 5% by next year, relying solely on a stable exchange rate, according to the latest monetary policy.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) unveiled the monetary policy for the second half of FY25 today, projecting economic growth to slow down to 4–5% in FY25 before bouncing back to 6% in FY26.
Governor Ahsan H Mansur announced the first monetary policy under the interim government, formed after the ousting of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August.
"I do not even dream of investment growth because it will not happen," he said while addressing a press conference on the monetary policy announcement.
Citing macroeconomic and political instability as the two key reasons, he said, "Everything is not possible through monetary policy."
Referring to economic theory, he added, "One instrument for one target. Monetary policy is one instrument, and its only target is to manage inflation. We cannot achieve too many objectives with a single instrument."
However, he hoped that inflation, which has remained above 10%, will come down to 7%–8% by June this year and further decline to 5% by next year.
He blamed high inflation primarily to exchange rate volatility and expressed hope that if the exchange rate remains stable, it will help reduce price pressures.