MACRO MIRROR | The Daily Star

  • 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.

  • Time to address youth unemployment

    Creating employment for its large young population is one of the major policy challenges in Bangladesh at this moment. According to the Labour Force Survey 2016-17 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the national unemployment rate is 4.2 per cent. However,

  • National Budget announcement at Bangladesh parliament

    Will the budget for FY2020 be any different?

    Bangladesh’s national budget for FY2020 will be the first budget of the newly elected government that came to power following the election in December 2018. Hence many would like to see how the budget is going to implement the promises made in the election manifesto of the ruling party. If taken seriously, election manifesto is a document which can act as the reference point of a political party to deliver on its commitments. The election manifesto of the ruling party is quite a comprehensive document that outlines the achievements of the last 10 years and elaborates the pledges to be delivered during the next five years. Some of the important deliverables will have to be achieved through budgetary allocations.

  • Our incomprehensible obsession with GDP

    Our obsession with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) seems to growing every day while economists keep questioning its source, method, authenticity, etc.

  • Myanmar Rakhine State

    Addressing the Rohingya crisis: whose responsibility is it?

    It has been almost 21 months since the influx of about 750,000 Rohingyas to Bangladesh began in August 2017. Gradually, it is becoming clear to us that the Rohingyas are here to stay for a protracted period of time.

  • Looking beyond high growth in Bangladesh

    In 2018, Bangladesh began its graduation process from least developed country to developing country status. Bangladesh has now

  • SDGs: Three years on, where do we stand?

    The leaders of 193 countries adopted the Sustainable Development Goals on September 25, 2015 following a long spell of extensive discussions and debates.

  • How much has the youth gained from growth?

    If one asks owners or chief executives of companies and organisations to single out one difficulty that they face, a chorus of voices will respond in unison: lack of skilled human resources.

  • BUDGET FOR FY2019: Good, bad and ugly

    The national budget is a means to manage the economy of a country through collection of revenue from various sources and making expenditures for development programmes.

  • LDC GRADUATION: What it means for Bangladesh

    On March 16, 2018, for the second time in the history of independent Bangladesh, the country was adorned with a crown for its

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