The free fall of Silicon Valley Bank
What happened to the 40-year-old bank that was so highly regarded among all stakeholders in America’s tech sector?
How can Bangladesh avoid a middle-income trap?
Regulators must be willing to adopt a vision for Bangladesh that is more technology and productivity based.
The stock market-real economy ‘disconnect’
The biggest factor behind the disconnect is that the largest companies with stable profitability refuse to come to the market.
Could covenants save our banks from defaulted loans?
As of September 2022, NPLs have soared over Tk 134,000 crores.
Creating a modern and diverse capital market in Bangladesh
In most market economies around the world, companies can typically choose between many financial assets to raise money for growth and capital expenditure.
Choking global stock markets: The Coronavirus effect
Investors had begun 2020 in an optimistic frame of mind. After all, last year was one of the best for global stocks since the financial crisis.
The need to transform the capital market
In most market economies around the world, investors can typically choose between many financial assets to put their money in. The demand for different financial products arises from an elemental property of risky assets: uncertainty in payoffs.
No winds of change
Riding on the long bull-run of 2017, investors in Bangladesh's stock exchange may have thought that perhaps the year 2018 will not be too bad either. After all if past record is any guide, election years typically mean more money being pumped into the market.
Economic challenges in 2019
The curtains are falling on the year 2018 and for our economy it was yet again a roller coaster ride of achievements and disappointments. Challenges remain but if our economy's long history of unfaltering resilience is any guide, sooner or later we are going to overcome them.
Making the rich richer: How multinational companies create inequality
About one year ago, I had the privilege of meeting one of the top corporate executives in Bangladesh. Well-known as a corporate kingpin heading one of the top multinational companies (MNCs) in our country, he was happy to chat when we were introduced at a family event.
Fixing our current account deficit
If it was for a large, resource-rich country like the United States or Germany, a current account deficit of around USD 10 billion would be nothing. But for a small developing economy like Bangladesh, a current account deficit of USD 10 billion or four percent of GDP is definitely big enough to sound the alarm.
Sanchayapatra: The scapegoat of our financial sector problems?
Playing the blame game is one of our oldest rituals. When a crisis strikes it's always easier to lay the blame on someone that appears, only on surface, to be the “bad guy” without admitting to more fundamental causes. Sanchayapatra is just that: the scapegoat of our growing economic and financial sector challenges.
For a vibrant financial sector
An “economic miracle”—that's how leading international newspaper the Financial Times described Bangladesh in an article last year as it showered praises over our economic achievements.
Sanchayapatra and cost of borrowing
There is a lot of controversy these days surrounding the interest rates offered by Sanchayapatra of the Department of National Savings, which the government uses to finance its budget deficit.
Buoyant but not resilient
With the year 2017 drawing to a close, we are left with both positive and not-so-positive observations from the country's stock market. We all know that after the crash in 2010, the market has been in the doldrums for several years.
Bringing multinationals to the stock market
Bringing multinationals to the stock market is one of those long-standing policy challenges regulators have been grappling with for many years now. On the surface, it appears to be an issue of designing the right incentive structure.
How to stimulate the stock market?
One common discourse in the financial and policy arena of Bangladesh is the idea that higher rate on national savings schemes discourages investment in the stock market.
To cut or not to cut?
To cut or not to cut yield on national savings schemes (NSS)—that's one headache our finance minister is unable to get rid of. Will reducing rates on national savings schemes (NSS) have a strictly positive impact on our economy?
Rising current account deficit: How vulnerable are we?
First things first, let's recall that a current account shows the flow of goods and services, primary and secondary income between a country and the rest of the world.
Monetary policy brandishing double-edged swords
Detractors can fret about instability and balance of payment difficulties, but make no mistake, such risks will remain contained if capital controls are relaxed gradually (following a medium-term plan) and political conditions remain, by and large, stable. In fact, some of the foundations that merit a more liberal foreign exchange regime are already in place.
Will remittances remain low for long?
If studies by Columbia University's Jagdish Bhagwatiand and IMF's Pierre-Richard Agenorare are to be believed, restrictions on foreign trade and capital flows gave birth to generations of these illegal markets across the world.
Can Trump stifle our growth momentum?
If you thought Brexit was a fluke, then think again. The new game in town, populism, paved the way for Donald Trump to capitalise on economic and social frustrations of the forgotten blue-collar American....
Did Trump make America's stock market great again?
Stock markets really are strange beasts. Those of us observing global financial markets expected stock investors to run for cover and scurry off towards safe havens like the Swiss Frank, Japanese Yen, US treasuries and gold following Donald Trump's shocking ascension to US presidency.
Modi's surgical strike on black money
Cash is king in India, or at least it was. In one single sweep Narendra Modi just scrapped two high-value bank notes in the Indian economy in an all-out war to flush out black money, fight tax evasion and eradicate counterfeit notes that were being used by terrorists.
Dollar-peg is a double-edged sword
Global foreign exchange markets just took a hammering from Britain's shocking exit from the EU. In our own neck of the woods, the
Reforms for higher investment cannot be delayed
It should not be surprising that private sector investment's share in GDP is shrinking. Banks are drowning in excess cash to the point where call money rate collapsed to historic lows.
Is negative interest rate a recipe for disaster?
Imagine paying interest to save money. A bizarre idea that was once theoretical curiosity is now a stark reality in several economies of the developed world...
Does Bangladesh deserve a higher sovereign rating?
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15, global sovereign rating agencies Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch assigned Bangladesh a 'stable' sovereign credit outlook.
Three's a crowd: What can China do?
If monetary policy autonomy is a priority, capital account liberalisation should come after a country’s transition to a flexible exchange rate – not before it.
Reserve currency: China's new double-edged sword
The year 2015 was not kind to the world's second-largest economy. Growth slumped to a 25-year low. The stock market experienced
What to do with rising foreign exchange reserves?
FROM USD 9 billion only four years ago, foreign exchange (forex) reserves have risen exponentially and ended 2015 at USD 27 billion.
Trade policy: World racing ahead, Bangladesh standing still
BANGLADESH'S remarkable success in exports needs no new recognition. Sustained comparative advantage in low-skilled labour
Which way should banks go?
WHAT can banks do with their rising volume of surplus liquidity? As Advanced-Deposit ratio has been declining, banks rushed towards
Rising Foreign Currency Loans - Any reason to worry?
The rising trend of foreign currency loans availed by the private sector is a relatively new phenomenon in Bangladesh since access to international markets was liberalised in 2008.
What Can BB Do?
Amid the wave of currency depreciation across emerging markets in Asia, Bangladesh Bank's (BB) fight against appreciation stands out as an intriguing challenge. Economists and the corporate sector are calling for an “engineered” depreciation of the taka to revive export competitiveness.
Is the Renminbi ready to go global?
Pressure from the IMF suggests that, with time China will indeed move towards a more open capital market. But that creates other challenges for Asia's largest economy.
March 29, 2023
The free fall of Silicon Valley Bank
What happened to the 40-year-old bank that was so highly regarded among all stakeholders in America’s tech sector?
March 12, 2023
How can Bangladesh avoid a middle-income trap?
Regulators must be willing to adopt a vision for Bangladesh that is more technology and productivity based.
January 25, 2023
The stock market-real economy ‘disconnect’
The biggest factor behind the disconnect is that the largest companies with stable profitability refuse to come to the market.
December 27, 2022
Could covenants save our banks from defaulted loans?
As of September 2022, NPLs have soared over Tk 134,000 crores.
February 11, 2021
Creating a modern and diverse capital market in Bangladesh
In most market economies around the world, companies can typically choose between many financial assets to raise money for growth and capital expenditure.
March 10, 2020
Choking global stock markets: The Coronavirus effect
Investors had begun 2020 in an optimistic frame of mind. After all, last year was one of the best for global stocks since the financial crisis.
February 15, 2019
The need to transform the capital market
In most market economies around the world, investors can typically choose between many financial assets to put their money in. The demand for different financial products arises from an elemental property of risky assets: uncertainty in payoffs.
December 28, 2018
No winds of change
Riding on the long bull-run of 2017, investors in Bangladesh's stock exchange may have thought that perhaps the year 2018 will not be too bad either. After all if past record is any guide, election years typically mean more money being pumped into the market.
December 22, 2018
Economic challenges in 2019
The curtains are falling on the year 2018 and for our economy it was yet again a roller coaster ride of achievements and disappointments. Challenges remain but if our economy's long history of unfaltering resilience is any guide, sooner or later we are going to overcome them.
December 20, 2018
Making the rich richer: How multinational companies create inequality
About one year ago, I had the privilege of meeting one of the top corporate executives in Bangladesh. Well-known as a corporate kingpin heading one of the top multinational companies (MNCs) in our country, he was happy to chat when we were introduced at a family event.
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