Economy
Bring reforms in revenue generation, exchange rate
Reforms need to be brought about over revenue generation, currency exchange rate, banking and public expenditure, the four areas vital to the country’s economic performance, through the upcoming national budget, suggested an economist yesterday.
Traffic congestion costs Old Dhaka its title as key trading hub
Traffic congestion inflicted by unplanned urbanisation and expansion reduces the country's overall GDP by 2.9 percent.
The poor’s debt burden gets heavier
The vicious cycle of taking loans to pay bills and then taking another loan to pay off the first loan may continue throughout their lives, with little or no real improvement in their living standards.
Firms becoming more transparent in financial statements
The use of the document verification system (DVS) has increased in Bangladesh in the last couple of years, plugging the scope for unruly firms to submit forged audit reports. The number of audit reports signed by accountants by securing codes from the DVS rose by nearly 2 percent year-on-year to 38,316 in 2021-22 compared to a year prior, data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) showed.
Can Bangladesh boost agriculture production to reduce import?
Bangladesh's economy heavily depends on garment exports and remittances for its foreign exchange reserves, with limited diversification in agricultural products. Despite being an agrarian society, it imports key agriculture-related products, straining reserves.
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Bangladesh beyond geopolitics in a new multipolar world: what’s new in foreign policy trajectory?
Both the China and India factors in Bangladesh’s foreign policy decisions, as identified in Li Jianjun and Deb Mukharji’s chapters, will be continuously evolving and contributing factors that would perhaps influence Bangladesh’s policies with other countries as well.
Enhancing rural women's financial inclusion
Rural women have been challenged by loan rates exceeding 25 percent, making access to financial services a distant dream for many
The ravages of wealth
Bangladesh’s wealth inequality keeps getting wider
Opinion / Bangladesh's SDG performance: A changed approach can help us get ahead
Despite moderate performance in several SDGs, Bangladesh faces major challenges in actually achieving them.
What Bangladesh's new budget should offer to common people
The upcoming budget poses significant challenges – arguably the most challenging in recent times – for economic policymaking in Bangladesh.
IMF getting BB ready for post-LDC world
Bangladesh’s preparation for LDC graduation would start in earnest with the International Monetary Fund’s 42-month loan programme, where one of the objectives is to overhaul the monetary and exchange rate policies to meet the needs of an open economy.
IMF watching economy like a hawk
The International Monetary Fund would be watching the Bangladesh economy like a hawk, stipulating an extensive list of data reporting regularly as part of the conditions agreed upon for the $4.7 billion loan programme.
Investment flow drying up for tech start-ups
Start-ups in Bangladesh went through a tough time in 2022 owing to the uncertainty in the global economy, but gloomier days for them might not go away any time soon since the decline in global investments is set to linger.
Navigating through rough waters
2023 is already here and no doubt, the last three years have been rough for Bangladesh. It is almost as though a ship at sea navigating and making its way through rough waters during a storm.
Feeble monetary policy against challenges
Bangladesh Bank yesterday unveiled a wishy-washy monetary policy for the next six months that will prove to be ineffective in tackling the headwinds passing through the economy.
‘Unpredictability has become the new normal’
Unpredictability has become the new normal in a world afflicted by the forces of deglobalisation amidst rising geopolitical tensions.
Exports hit record on Christmas cheer
Exports fetched a record $5.37 billion in December as consumer spending centring on Christmas in the Western world returned in full swing after two pandemic holiday seasons marked by health fears and supply shortages.
2023 will be the year of inflation and financial turpitude
While the government is distracted by elections, the financial economy will suffer
Without good teachers, any education reform agenda is futile
The solution to this problem lies in generating more opportunities for the employment of our graduates – at home and abroad.
