MACRO MIRROR | The Daily Star

  • Getting the best out of a changing rural economy

    Rural Bangladesh is changing. This change has been happening rather fast during the last two decades.

  • Why Bangladesh and India’s per capita GDP should not be compared

    The latest report on World Economic Outlook by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in October 2020 has created a lot of noise both in Bangladesh and India.

  • Bangladesh needs a paradigm shift towards green economy

    Over the last five decades, our economic performance has been impressive, despite various limitations such as resource constraints and weak governance.

  • How has Bangladesh managed the pandemic-affected economy so far?

    Some indicators of the Bangladesh economy have started to show positive signs in the recent period. Among those are remittances and exports of readymade garments (RMG), which were affected hugely since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangladesh in March 2020.

  • The brunt of the pandemic on MSMEs in the Asia Pacific Region

    While economies around the world are reeling from distress due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, some sectors are facing the brunt of Covid-19 the most.

  • Women’s access to stimulus packages and post Covid-19 gender equality

    All crises—natural disasters, wars, pandemics—affect different sections of people in different ways. Like any other crisis, Covid-19 has differing impacts on society.

  • Living with floods and reducing vulnerability in Bangladesh

    Every year, Bangladesh suffers from floods that cause loss of life, livelihoods, crops and property. However, in certain years, due to heavy rainfall and the flow of upstream water, floods become devastating.

  • Bangladesh’s GDP growth number does not hold water

    Almost a year ago, in this column, I wrote about the obsession of our policymakers’ with the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (“Our incomprehensible obsession with GDP”, May 19, 2019). I discussed in brief how GDP is estimated, and its inherent weaknesses which is why this indicator should not be taken so seriously.

  • The government stimulus packages must reach those who need it the most

    Since March 25, 2020, the government of Bangladesh has unveiled 19 stimulus packages to help the economy recover from the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Making online education effective

    During the ongoing corona-virus pandemic educational institutions all over the world have introduced online medium for imparting lessons to students. Indeed, classroom lessons in many advanced countries had become technology dependent even before the pandemic. Now it is no longer a choice but a necessity if students are to be taught.

  • The journey of women in leadership

    When the corona-virus pandemic is raging around the world, political leaders are being weighed in for their performances in containing the pandemic.

  • Ensuring food security for all

    Bangladesh has made remarkable growth in agriculture since independence.

  • Green economic recovery from corona pandemic

    The ongoing economic recession due to coronavirus pandemic has created opportunities for countries to replace the standard growth path with the green growth.

  • Future of aid during post-DFID era

    The recent announcement of merging the UK Department for International Development (DFID) with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made the development community baffled and anxious.

  • Tax reform is the key to creating fiscal space

    The need for increased fiscal space in the budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021, which is the Covid budget, had been pronounced loudly way before the budget was announced on June 11, 2020. Domestic resource mobilisation by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is the major source of financing the budget. The other sources are borrowing from the banking system, sale of national savings certificates, foreign loans and assistance.

  • Seven aspects of budget for FY2021

    The finance minister of Bangladesh deserves thanks for presenting the national budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021 at a time when the implications of Covid-19 (C19) pandemic is dire.

  • What balancing act is needed for FY2021 budget?

    The budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021 is going to be presented in the backdrop of a situation which was previously not experienced in the history of Bangladesh.

  • Health sector cannot be improved only by resources

    Increasing allocation for the health sector is a common and justified demand in Bangladesh. With an allocation of 0.9 percent of gross domestic product and less than five percent of total budget expenditure the country has very little healthcare investment for its citizens.

  • Life after the pandemic

    Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic we have begun to analyse, forecast and speculate the impact on economies, societies, political systems, governance mechanisms, and on many more areas.

  • Printing money is not an option for Bangladesh

    To support the COVID-19 affected economy, some experts are suggesting that the government of Bangladesh should go for printing money. However, I feel that there is no need to take such a radical measure since Bangladesh has a number of policy tools at its hand at the moment to heat up the economy.

  • No choice between lives and livelihoods

    Bangladesh has been under lockdown since March 25, 2020 to control the spread of coronavirus.

  • How will the Covid-19 stimulus package be implemented?

    As the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on Bangladesh economy is becoming apparent in many ways, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a second stimulus package for the affected sectors on April 5, 2020.

  • Priorities in the times of coronavirus

    Since December 8, 2019, when a first known case of pneumonia with unknown aetiology was found in Wuhan City, China, the world has been badly tangled up in the novel coronavirus or Covid-19.

  • Tackling the economic fallout of COVID-19

    Amidst the rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe, Bangladesh seems to be one of the least affected countries with only five identified cases as of March 15, 2020.

  • Breaking through the biased barriers

    The campaign for International Women’s Day 2020 is #EachForEqual. This signifies how important it is for everyone to play a role in establishing women’s equality. An equal society is an empowered society.

  • Why we need a banking commission

    Recent newspaper reports indicate that the finance minister is taking an initiative to form a Banking Commission. This is a welcome move.

  • Grappling with growing pains

    Bangladesh began 2019 with a renewed hope that its newly elected government would bring in political and economic changes as promised in its election manifesto.

  • Our way forward in 2020

    Following a rather relatively quiet national elections in December 2018, the year 2019 began with the hope of doing better in economic fronts.

  • Winners and losers in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

    Every time I travel to a developed country, I observe new ways of doing things. I find that human interaction has become unnecessary in getting services.

  • Sale of non-performing loans to asset management company

    While Bangladesh is feted for being one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a growth rate of 8.13 percent in fiscal year 2018-19, its banking sector is in the grip of despair.

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