It is the government’s avowed intention to make Bangladesh a Middle Income Country, free of hunger and poverty. And the country is well on the way to achieving that: in 2015 it was granted Lower Middle Income Country status, and in 2018 it was declared a Least Developed Country. Economic expansion in Bangladesh has been robust during the last ten years. In fiscal year 2019 the economy grew by 8.2 % – the highest rate in the Asia-Pacific region.