CPD Policy Brief 1
Bangladesh Becoming a Middle-Income Country, Ceasing to be a Least Developed Country
Clarifying Confusion
Bangladesh will attain middle-income status by 2021 – which it already did – and Bangladesh will leave the LDC group by 2021, a technically impossible target. The confusion affects both high-level policymakers and political leaders, though it is not obvious whether inadequate comprehension or just political rhetoric has led to the confusion.
This policy brief addresses ambiguities that exist regarding the two very different development milestones in the context of Bangladesh. The next couple of years will be crucial for the country in view of the various transitions that it will go through (i.e. LDC graduation, transition from Asian Development Fund to regular Asian Development Bank assistance only, and from International Development Association assistance to International Development Association blend) (World Bank, 2016). To strategies the country’s direction effectively, it is essential that relevant stakeholders are adequately informed and conceptually clear about the two classifications with varying policy implications for the country.
Authors: Debapriya Bhattacharya and Sarah Sabin Khan
Publication period: March 2018
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