Dhaka, Aug. 13 -- Finance Affairs Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday likened Bangladesh's economic recovery to a patient's gradual improvement, saying it had moved "from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) last year to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) now."

Speaking at a press conference at the Secretariat, he elaborated on the analogy: "For a country like ours, the economy will not move directly to a private cabin - it will first progress to a paying bed or ward before eventually returning home." He expressed optimism that by January next year, the economy would be in a "ward-level" condition.

On 4 August, the adviser had made a similar comparison, noting that the financial sector had improved markedly over the past year - "from the ICU to he...