The recovery of the Bhutanese economy is on track. The finance minister said this during an interview with BBS yesterday. Bhutan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is at an all-time low of minus 10.08 per cent last year. The economy of a country is measured by GDP, which is the total value of goods and services produced within a country during a given period of time.
The country’s GDP growth was 5.46 per cent in 2019. For 2020, the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) recorded the growth at minus 10.08 per cent. However, as the Asian Development Bank projected, the finance minister said the economy will rebound this year.
“We wouldn’t say that the GDP rate is back to being stable like before but going by activities so far, the situation is much better than 2020. And I am sure that the GDP for 2021 will be at around 3.7 per cent. If we are to bring GDP to what it was before the pandemic, we have to bring it to nearly six per cent. This we can increase by 2024,” said Finance Minister Namgay Tshering.
As per the recent report published by the NSB, among the major economic sectors, mining, quarrying, and construction were the main sectors that led to the slump. The fall in the GDP is also attributed to the service sector like hotels, restaurants, and recreational services dependent on the tourism sector which has been crippled by the pandemic. The minister said reviving tourism will take a little more time.
“Mining, quarrying and boulder export works have resumed, and we will focus on that. Likewise, manufacturing industries like Pasakha are working like before. Besides the Kidu support from His Majesty, we are looking to support sectors that will improve our economy,” Lyonpo added.
The minister said if there is no improvement in the GDP growth despite the impressive coverage of vaccines, then it is a sign that the government is failing.
Samten Dolkar
