Bangladesh Bank has said that the actual export is quite less than the data published by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Economists have been expressing fear that it may affect the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) as well as per capita income, per capita GDP and all related sectors. However, the Ministry of Finance says that GDP is calculated on the basis of the amount of foreign currency that actually comes into the country as opposed to exports. Therefore GDP and per capita income will not decrease due to this effect.

This information was informed in a press release signed by Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Finance Gazi Touhidul Islam on Tuesday. Earlier, an inter-ministerial meeting was held under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali in the meeting room of the Ministry of Finance on Monday regarding the discrepancy in export data. State Minister of Finance Wasika Ayesha Khan, State Minister of Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu, Governor of Bangladesh Bank Abdur Rauf Talukder, Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Munim, secretary of the finance department. Md Khaeruzzaman Majumdar, Vice Chairman of EPB. Anwar Hossain and officials of the relevant ministries were present.

According to the press release of the Ministry of Finance, for the information of all, it is being informed that steps have been taken to coordinate the export data of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Bank and the same method is currently being adopted in the collection of data by all the concerned agencies. As a result, it is expected that there will be no significant difference in the export data published by Bangladesh Bank, National Board of Revenue and Export Development Bureau from now on.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the amount of foreign currency that actually comes to the country, as opposed to the export, Bangladesh Bank declares only that amount as the amount of export of the country. While calculating the GDP, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics takes this account of Bangladesh Bank into account. As a result, the recent fears of a fall in newspaper exports and consequent decline in GDP and per capita income are not correct.

The notification further recasts data in some areas of balance of payments current account and financial accounts. However, this will not result in any change in the overall balance of payments. The revised Balance of Payment has already been published on the website of Bangladesh Bank for everyone’s information.

The amount of cash financial incentives given in respect of exports is determined by obtaining the actual export earnings published by Bangladesh Bank and determining the actual cash incentives through a third party auditor. Therefore, the cash incentive provided by the government against exports is correct, said the finance ministry.

Meanwhile, EPB regularly publishes statistics on the country’s exports based on NBR data. Besides, the amount of foreign currency coming into the country against the export, the Bangladesh Bank publishes the information. In the last ten financial years, the difference in the export income statistics of these two companies has been seen to increase gradually. According to the calculations of Bangladesh Bank last Thursday, the export income from July to May last year was 4 thousand 73 billion dollars, which is 4.28 percent less than the same period of the previous financial year. Although EPB claimed in data released last month by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), export earnings in the 11 months (July-May) were $5,154 million, which is 2 percent higher than the same period of the previous fiscal. That is, according to the data of these two organizations, the difference in export income stands at 1 thousand 81 million dollars. Not only in the last financial year, but in the last 10 years, the average of the two organizations is about 6 thousand 5 billion dollars.