Delaying graduation could help the economy graduate stronger
Bangladesh is on the cusp of a historic economic milestone. In November 2026, the nation is set to graduate from the United Nations’ Least Developed Countries (LDC) category, formally marking its progress towards middle-income status. Yet behind the symbolism lies a sobering reality: the economy is ill-prepared for the shockwaves such a transition will unleash.
Our newspaper on Monday reported that at a joint press conference in Dhaka, sixteen of the country’s leading business chambers and associations voiced a rare unified appeal: delay graduation by at least three to five years. Their reasoning is difficult to dismiss.
The loss of duty- and quota-free access to major markets threatens to erode Bangladesh’s hard-won export competitiveness, especially in garments and pharmaceuticals — the backbone of its economy.
Without preferential treatment, the price advantage that underpins Bangladesh’s global standing could evaporate almost overnight.
The call for caution is not unprecedented. The Maldives, Bhutan, Vanuatu and Botswana all secured extensions, recognising that development milestones should be sustained, not rushed.
Bangladesh too has every right to seek time to prepare — time to negotiate free trade agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom, ASEAN and Gulf partners; time to diversify into new sectors such as ICT, agro-processing and light engineering; and time to build the economic resilience needed to weather tariff shocks from the United States.
The risks are plain. The country faces mounting debt stress, a weak currency, energy shortages, dwindling foreign investment and the aftershocks of last year’s political unrest. To ignore these warning signs in the name of symbolism would be reckless.
Graduation is indeed inevitable, but premature graduation could undo decades of progress and leave the private sector grappling with a storm of uncertainty.
Bangladesh’s business leaders have sounded the alarm. The government must now listen — and act. Deferring graduation until 2032, as many in the private sector propose, may seem like backtracking, but in truth, it would amount to prudence.
Development is not a race for international accolades. It is about ensuring that when Bangladesh does step forward, it does so from a position of strength, not fragility.