Ns News Online Desk: Five countries among the 45 least developed countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh, attained economic growth at 7 percent or higher in 2017, according to a new report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). “This is the case of Bangladesh (+7.1 per cent), Djibouti (+7.0 per cent), Ethiopia (+8.5 per cent), Myanmar (+7.2 per cent), and Nepal (+7.5 per cent),” said the report titled, ‘Selected Sustainable Development Trends in the Least Developed Countries 2018’ published recently
At the other end of the spectrum, the report said, several LDC economies have featured among the world’s most dynamic economies, and attained the SDG 8.1 target of seven percent GDP growth rate in 2017. All other LDCs recorded current account deficits of varying sizes, ranging from less than one percentage point of GDP – Bangladesh and Nepal – to more than 25 percent in the cases of Bhutan, Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, and Tuvalu.
Resources sent by individuals to LDCs as a group (remittances) totaled $36.9 billion in 2017, down by 2.6 percent compared to the peak of $37.9 billion in 2016, the report said. In absolute terms, the largest recipients of remittances among LDCs, included Bangladesh, ($13.6 billion in 2016), Nepal ($6.6 billion), Yemen ($3.4 billion), Haiti ($2.4 billion), Senegal ($2 billion) and Uganda ($1 billion.
UNCTAD report said that the 47 LDCs, a long-established category of nations requiring special attention from the international community, will fall short of goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development unless urgent action is taken. Special foreign aid commitments for LDCs amounted to $43.2 billion in 2017, representing only an estimated 27 percent of net aid to all developing countries. This suggests a 0.5 percent increase in aid in real terms year-on-year.
