Comparing the Economic Indicators of Mali, Bangladesh and United States

Course Name: Finance and Development (F-414)

Prepared for:

Dr. Gazi Mohammed Hasan Jamil

Associate Professor
Department of Finance
University of Dhaka

Prepared by:

Group No: 008

Section: B
Batch: 23rd

SL No Name ID No Remarks

01 Sayed Muntasir 23-029

02 Tamanna Akter 23-021

03 Shuvo Roy 23-036

04 Nusrat Jahan 23-117

05 Shaikh Saifullah Khalid 23-160

Date of Submission: 5th November, 2020

Preface
Too often, policymakers face some dilemmas to implement a particular policy. There is no
certainty that one policy which performed well in one country may fail to achieve the target in
another country. In this report, we selected three countries. Among them, Mali, an African
underdeveloped country, is struggling in manufacturing industry.  This leads to an enormous
need for imports and to a current account in deficit (5.4% of GDP in 2019). On the demand side,
investment is particularly low, at 9.5% of GDP for the private sector and 8.7% for the public
sector.Meanwhile, Bangladesh maintained 8.13% growth in this year and managed to put aside
the impact of Covid-19. One the contrary, USA’s GDP grew 33.1% between July and
September. We mainly compared these three countries’ performance in terms of GDP growth,
headcount poverty rate etc.

Growth and Poverty in Mali, Bangladesh and United States

From Figure 1, we can see, in recent fiscal year, Mali has shown a growth rate of 5.04%.
However, Mali’s average growth rate is not sustainable. Mali is experiencing ups and downs in
their growth rate whereas their poverty rate remains high in the last 7 years. In 2013,
approximately 50% of their population lived below poverty line. This rate did not change that
much in terms of their growth. Mali’s average growth rate of last 7 years is 5.2%
However, in the last 7 years Bangladesh performed well in terms of GDP growth and poverty
rate reduction. Bangladesh managed to reduce their growth rate from 32% to 20% in the last 7
years. Moreover, Bangladesh also maintained steady growth rate in the last 7 years. In 2019,
Bangladesh maintained a growth rate of 8%. (Figure 2)
USA, the number 1 economy of the world, maintained stable growth rate and poverty rate in the
last few years. (Figure 3)
8.00% 48.00%
47.10% 47.20%
7.10% 46.80% 47.00%
7.00%
46.09%
6.00% 6.16% 46.00%
5.76% 44.90%
5.42% 45.00%
5.00% 5.04%
4.65% 44.00%
4.00% 43.08%
43.00%
3.00% 42.01%
42.00%
2.30%
2.00% 41.00%
1.00% 40.00%
0.00% 39.00%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Poverty rate Annual GDP growth rate

Figure 1: Growth and poverty in Mali, 2013-2019
 9.00% 32.60% 35.00%
8.00% 8.15%
7.86% 30.00%
27.03% 7.11% 7.28%
7.00% 24.70%
6.55% 24.30% 24.30% 25.00%
6.00% 6.01% 6.06% 21.08% 20.05%
5.00% 20.00%

4.00% 15.00%
3.00%
10.00%
2.00%
5.00%
1.00%
0.00% 0.00%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Poverty rate Annual GDP growth rate

Figure 2: Growth and poverty in Bangladesh, 2013-2019

3.50% 16.00%
14.50% 14.50%
13.50% 14.00%
3.00%
2.88% 12.70% 12.30% 2.93%
11.80%
12.00%
2.50% 2.45% 10.50%
2.33%
2.22% 10.00%
2.00%
1.84% 8.00%
1.50% 1.57%
6.00%
1.00%
4.00%
0.50% 2.00%

0.00% 0.00%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Poverty rate Annual GDP growth rate

Figure 3: Growth and poverty in USA, 2013-2019

Catch-up Effect
Bangladesh managed to increase their GDP per capita growth yearly. The average per capita
growth of Bangladesh is 5.84%. However, Mali failed to increase their per capita GDP. USA is
maintaining a stable per capita ratio. Though Bangladesh is performing well in terms of growth,
still it has to go a long way to become a developed country. The income gap between Bangladesh
and any developed is still high. However, Bangladesh managed to increase their per capita
growth compared to US. Catch-up effect is working in this situation.
 8.00%
7.00%
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
Mali
3.00% Bangladesh
USA
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
-1.00%
-2.00%
Figure 4: GDP per capita in an under-developed, developing and developed country