An Empirical Analysis on the External Borrowing of Bangladesh

Abstract

The People Republic of Bangladesh is surrounded by India with a small common border with Burma in the southeast. The country is a low lying river line land drained by Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. Tropical monsoons and frequent floods and cyclones inflict heavy damage in the delta region. Bangladesh is an independent republic within the British Common Wealth. It has an area of 144,000sq kms with a population of 129.8 millions in 2000. Its capital is Dhaka and its official language is Bangla. The currency of the country is Taka (Tk) and its exchange rate with one dollar is 52.14. The major exporting items are garments, jute, leather, seafood, tea, paper and fertilizers worth 5526.93 millions of US Dollars in 2000. The major imports are capital goods, petroleum, food and textiles. The value of total imports was 8108.2 millions of US Dollars in 2000. The earliest kingdom was called Vanga or Banga (1000 B.C.). Buddhists ruled for centuries and by the end of 10th century Bengal was primarily Hindu nation. In 1576 Bengal became the part of the Mogul Empire. Bengal was ruled by British India from1757 to 1947. The present Bangladesh named as East Pakistan and present Pakistan as West Pakistan were united by religion and discriminated by vast geographic, economic and cultural differences. Based on the efforts of the Pakistan Awami League founder Sheik Mujibur Rahman a Bengal nationalist, the independent state of Bangladesh was proclaimed on March 26, 1971.

View PDF