Dhaka, Feb. 19 -- The new government will take initiatives to defer Bangladesh's graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status, says Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir.

Speaking to journalists at the secretariat on Wednesday, he said the government had already started working on this.

He said the government wanted to defer LDC graduation and was taking all necessary steps towards that goal.

"The commerce ministry has started working on the matter today. It will issue a letter within a short time," he said, adding that the Economic Relations Division (ERD) would handle external coordination and do the necessary communications.

Referring to the long-standing demand from business associat...