Figure 1: Per capita income of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan from 1990 to 2018 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 USD 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Source: World Bank data Bangladesh India Pakistan HSBC Global Research(2018) projected that in between 2018 and 2030, Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate would be 7.1 percent per year on average. Consequently, according to these projections, by 2030 Bangladesh economy will be larger than that of the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam and even Malaysia(Henry and Pomeroy, 2018). The Asian Development Outlook of ADB(2019) put Bangladesh as the only country with eight plus percent of GDP growth in 2018. The outlook said that Bangladesh will remain the fastest growing country in Asia with 8.1 percent growth of GDP in 2019. The World Bank, on the other hand, predicts GDP growth to be less than the projection by ADB. However, the World Bank’s projection still puts Bangladesh at a more elevated position compared to its South Asian Peers. Figure 2 shows that in 2030, per capita income of Bangladesh(USD 5,700) will exceed that of India (Standard Chartered, 2019). Bangladesh’s achievements in terms of different social indicators are even more impressive, with continued fall in infant and maternal mortality rates along with the highest life expectancy (nearly 73 years) in South Asia(Rahman 2019). A number of factors have been contributing behind the country’s macroeconomic success and these are expected to do so in the coming couple of decades as well. Bangladesh has been earning significant amounts of foreign exchange through RMG exports(commodity export boom) and as well as a few non-RMG items like ICT services, agro-processed, leather, ceramic and Figure 2: Per capita GDP in 2018 and 2030, Bangladesh and other emerging economies MAYANMAR PHILIPINES ETHIOPIA COTE D'IVOIRE VIETNAM INDIA BANGLADESH $1,300 $853 $3,100 $2,800 $1,800 $2,500 $1,900 $1,600 $0$2,000 $4,800 $6,900 $4,400 $5,400 $5,700 $4,000 2030 $6,000 2018 $8,000 Source: Standard Chartered Bank, using World Bank, IMF and UN data $10,400 $10,000$12,000 10 .Context