Digital payments can boost Bangladesh's annual GDP by 1.7 percent, an addition of $6.2 billion (Taka 50,058 crores) annually to the economy, according to a new report by the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance and its member, Bangladesh's flagship program a2i.
Planning Minister MA Mannan in an online event on Wednesday officially launched two publications titled 'National Digital Payments Roadmap, Bangladesh 2022-2025' and 'Measuring progress to scale: Responsible digital payments in Bangladesh', said a press release.
In his speech as the chief guest, Mannan said that Bangladesh's economy has grown significantly over the last 13 years.
"We are moving forward towards being recognized as one of the top 25 economies in the world by 2035. By 2030, we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and by 2041, we want to transform into a fully developed state,"
He said digitization can play a crucial role in this journey. "It is one of the main commitments of our government and we are working diligently to achieve this goal by building a cashless society, leaving no one behind,"
"There are many areas where we have already witnessed remarkable adoption of digital payments. We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that we build a reliable and inclusive digital infrastructure that will serve as the foundation on which digital payments and services can be built," said Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i.
"Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress towards the Digital Bangladesh vision. Digital transactions have grown from 5 percent to 20 percent in 5 years - an impressive four-fold increase," said Camilo Tellez, Deputy Managing Director at the Better Than Cash Alliance.
The publication reports that 53 percent of the $6.2 billion will come from digitizing just 30 percent of micro-merchant transactions in the retail sector; 45 percent from digitizing credit disbursements in the agricultural sector; and the remaining from scaling digital wages in the informal ready-made garments (RMG) sector.
Responsible payments digitization in these sectors, crucially prioritizing women, will help accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Since joining the Better Than Cash Alliance in 2015, reports suggest that Bangladesh has made significant progress in moving towards a digital economy. Based on the reports, the government has released the National Digital Payments Roadmap 2022-2025.
The roadmap identifies 22 solutions to build a safe, interoperable, and inclusive digital payments ecosystem over the next three years in the ready-made garment (RMG), retail, agriculture, health, and education sectors.
On the occasion, Md. Khurshid Alam, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, walked through Bangladesh's journey towards a cashless society.
Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor of a2i, discussed about the importance of the report and role it will play while Camilo Tellez, Deputy Managing Director at the Better Than Cash Alliance, talked about UN's policy on Digital Payments adding to his previous statement.
The 'National Digital Payment Roadmap 2022-25 and Diagnostic Study were presented by Kiyom Nagodup Masali, Asia Pacific Head of Better Than Cash Alliance and Nabila Khurshid, Bangladesh-Lead of Better Than Cash Alliance.