Dhaka, April 24 -- Bangladesh's premature graduation from the least-developed country (LDC) status will raise poverty levels and affect industries, including readymade garment (RMG), experts told a roundtable on Wednesday, requesting immediate deferral of the transition.

They highlighted evidence-based decision-making, saying if the graduation happens with the existing preparedness, a number of sectors, including pharmaceutical, would bear the brunt as domestic businesses would not be able to compete with medicine imports from neighbouring India.

Due to the massive destruction in the banking sector in the last 15 years by the non-democratic regime, interest rates would increase in the next couple of years and business costs would rise i...