A third of budget spent on interest payments, subsidies
The government spent Tk 246,583 crore in July-January of 2023-24 out of the total budget of Tk 761,785 crore for the entire fiscal year, figures from the finance ministry showed. The outlay under interest payments and subsidies was Tk 88,226 crore, which was 36 percent of the allocation.
1d ago
Stocks lose lustre as investment tool
Since the floor price removal, the stocks have been bleeding owing to massive sell-offs by local and foreign investors as the economic uncertainty persists
3d ago
Higher debt to put strain on Bangladesh as revenue remains low
In the last decade, the debt-to-GDP ratio rose by 13 percentage points. The IMF forecasts that the ratio will reach 43.5 percent in 2028-29.
1w ago
Social safety net to get wider and better
A top official of the ministry said the government would increase the number of beneficiaries in two major schemes – the old age allowance and the allowance for widows, deserted, or destitute women.
1w ago
StanChart saw record Tk 2,335cr profit in 2023
The British multinational bank logged profits of Tk 2,335 crore in 2023, up from Tk 1,655 crore in 2022, according to its financial reports.
3w ago
Can merger be panacea for banking sector’s ills?
The merger guideline for banks and financial institutions is being hailed as a major step towards fixing the problem in the financial sector, which has been weighed down by massive default loans and weak corporate governance.
3w ago
Dollar crunch dampens multinationals’ mood for eye-popping dividends
Last year, MNCs paid Tk 5,060 crore as dividends, representing 72 percent of the total earnings while in 2022, they gave out Tk 6,346 crore in dividends, which accounted for 95 percent of the profits.
1m ago
Stocks sink to lowest level in 3 years as investors sell and go away
Bangladesh’s stock market has been going through a bear run for the last two months despite petering out of election-linked uncertainty, signaling that the worries about the macroeconomic challenges are far from over.
1m ago
March 22, 2024
Companies scramble to repay bank loans
Since the interest rates may rise further, the companies are taking steps to quickly pay back loans using funds from alternative sources, according to business leaders.
March 21, 2024
Bangladeshi banks’ profitability lowest in South Asia
The profitability of the banking sector in Bangladesh is the lowest in South Asia due to the prevalence of higher non-performing loans, lower efficiency, and an elevated level of costs of funds.
March 19, 2024
Drug sales grow at slowest pace in five years
Experts and industry people blame higher inflationary pressure confronting a larger section of the population, especially low-income households, since May 2022, for the slower growth since their purchasing power has eroded significantly.
March 18, 2024
Bangladesh turning into a consumer electronics manufacturing hub
Bangladesh is turning into a manufacturing hub for consumer electronics thanks to its affordable wage structure, expertise in information technology and light engineering industries, according to Singer Bangladesh.
March 16, 2024
Does SO system impact prices of essentials?
Some think that the existing supply order (SO) system is one of the reasons for the spike in the prices of essential goods such as sugar and edible oil simply because prices increase each time the document changes hands.
March 16, 2024
Secrets of an informal commodity exchange
The narrow streets of Old Dhaka’s Moulvibazar hum with activity: commodity trading. On mobile phones, wholesalers fervently follow prices on trading floors in Chicago and London to bet on the local prices of sugar and edible oil. In and around tea stalls in this gloomy corner of Dhaka, even idle chats are centred around the price movement on the London Commodity Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, and the Bursa Malaysia.
March 10, 2024
Can the overly enthusiastic drives stop restaurant fires?
The Bailey Road fire, which killed at least 46 people on the last night of February, once again points to the massive flaws in the safety system of businesses in the sprawling Dhaka city and highlights the urgency to ramp up monitoring and interventions to avoid preventable deaths.
March 3, 2024
Insurance claim settlement rises in 2023
The claim settlement rate in the insurance sector of Bangladesh has risen by more than four percentage points within the span of a single year although the ratio has remained far below the global average.
March 3, 2024
Entrepreneurs stare at another blow as electricity tariff goes up
Entrepreneurs who have been finding it difficult to keep their head above water for the past two years owing to higher prices of energy, raw materials and massive depreciation of the local currency are staring at another blow as their cost of production is set to rise following the hike in electricity tariffs.
March 1, 2024
Insurance premium growth slows
Insurance premium growth decelerated in 2023 as people’s purchasing power eroded amid higher inflationary pressure, despite the sector’s immense potential in a country that has one of the lowest penetration rates in the world.
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