India has fallen behind its neighbour Bangladesh in terms of per capita income with the latter reporting its per capita income at $2,227 in the financial year 2020-21, according to reports.
India’s per capita income stands at $1,947 which is $280 less than that of Bangladesh, with the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown causing a contraction in economic growth.
“Our per capita income stands at $2,227 in the fiscal year 2020-21 against the previous fiscal year’s per capita income was $2,064. So, the growth rate is 9 per cent,” said Bangladesh’s Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam.
In 2007, the per capita income of Bangladesh was half of that of India but it will overtake the giant neighbour in per capita GDP once again in 2025 if IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook is to be believed.
But what pleases Bangladeshis more is that they have left Pakistan far behind—a sort of sweet revenge for the genocide of 1971 in which three million Bengalis died and quarter of a million women were dishonoured by the brutal Pakistan army trying to suppress the Bengali liberation struggle.
Former Bangladesh Information and Telecom Minister Tarana Halim said: “Pakistan is a sinking ship because it developed a military-driven defence budget focused economy with substantial terror financing burden. Once the Awami League took charge in 2009, our leader Hasina focussed on human and economic development with strong trickle-down impacts. We have a stable civilian government and has benefited from good relations with India”.
In October last year, the International Monetary Fund had estimated that the per capita income of an average Bangladeshi citizen would be more than the per capita income of an average Indian citizen.
