BB further relaxes loan repayment policy

The central bank has further extended the policy relaxation regarding loan repayment to the scheduled banks by their borrowers to help recover the country's pandemic-hit economy, officials said.Under the relaxation, the borrowers would get a fresh chance to remain unclassified,...

Metro rail hits the track

Dhaka city people got a chance to see the metro rail running on a viaduct for the first time on Friday, as the authorities operated the train from Uttara Diabari to Mirpur. Official sources said the train was taken on...

July tax receipts from large units plummet

Tax collection from Bangladesh's large manufacturing industries plummeted, registering a negative growth in VAT receipts in July, as a countrywide 'strict lockdown' for 18 days for checking corona transmission dealt them a stumbling blow.Field-level tax officials said a significant part...

No respite from waterlogging in Ctg city

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 27: Despite a Tk 60 billion (Tk 6,000 crore) project launched three years ago aiming to free the port city of water-logging during rainy season, the city-dwellers have not yet been freed from the decades-old problem, locals said.Meanwhile,...

Leather traders sold Tk 200m rawhides in Ctg during Eid

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 27: Owners of leather storages or godowns in the port city sold rawhides worth around Tk 200 million (Tk 20 crore) during and after Eid-ul-Azha this year, celebrated on July 21.Sources said there are a total of 112...

Govt bins BAPA's bid for stimulus

The government has turned down the Bangladesh Agro-Processors' Association (BAPA)'s proposal for providing cash incentive for the export of fragrant rice.The BAPA in a recent letter to commerce ministry suggested re-incentivising exporters of aromatic rice to facilitate export earnings, officials...

Stocks extend rally for tenth straight weeks

Stocks extended their rally for the tenth straight week that ended Thursday despite the Bangladesh Bank starting to investigate banks' investment in the capital market.The week featured usual five trading days. Of them, first three sessions witnessed sharp rise while...

The next big thing in RMG export

Synthetic fibres can be used to make many kinds of fashionable garments which are not possible with cotton fabrics. That is why the demand for synthetic fibre clothing is increasing worldwide. We may miss the train if we do not...

When love transcends beyond species for bonding with a difference

House sparrows like to live within the vicinity of people and yet they are not on the list of pet birds. These feathery neighbours may remind one of Lalan Sai's immortal song,'Tomar ghare basat kare koi jana' (how many people...

Resilience in a Riskier World

Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The Covid-19 pandemic, with its epicentre now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences, has exposed...

Afghanistan: Miserable performance of US mainstream media

America's 20-year misadventure in Afghanistan is finally over. The original purpose of our use of force, to destroy al-Qaeda after September 11, was legitimate. Our goal evolved, however, into a misguided, neocolonialist attempt to impose a Western form of government...

Retelling the story of jute

Before independence, jute was the chief cash crop of the country and it accounted for more than 50 per cent of the export earning. Being the biggest foreign-exchange earner, jute also figured prominently in the pre-independence political discourse of this...

Association, tax intel punish errant e-commerce cos

A series of anomalies has finally prompted the e-commerce apex trade body to penalize their errant members, as some buyers complained being cheated and tax intelligence found VAT evasion by a few. E-cab, the association of 1600 members, has suspended...

Handbook on customs tariff

Tax rates for a longer period or gradual increase or decrease in taxes with specific planning is considered one of key fiscal measures to lure investment. Bangladesh's businesses have long demanded gradual cuts in high tax rates in a bid...

Price situation: Clichés and statistics

The pandemic has unsettled life and living of most people. Only the affluent section has managed to escape its wrath. They too are uncomfortable for not being able to enjoy life fully because of the travel ban. The negative effect...

Homework and assignments on sale

People in this part of the world perhaps have the most fertile brain when it comes to relegating a well-intentioned system to disuse and disgrace. Munir Hasan, founding member of the Bangladesh Mathematics Olympiad, has written about what should have...

To address climate change, look to nature first

An integrated nature-based approach that uses biodiversity and ecosystem services will help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Human-induced climate change is progressively threatening people. It is also threatening the natural environment and the benefits and services...

The dead men of Afghanistan

This is a story of the men who have led, or tried to lead, Afghanistan in our times. It is a story which needs to be narrated in the light of the disaster, for so it is, that has befallen...

BB starts money mkt probe

The central bank starts investigation into entire money-market transactions along with exposures on the capital market to gauge liquidity movements in the banking system, following some already-detected incongruities.At least six teams of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) are now probing different...

Anwar Hossain: Glimpses of the life and accomplishments of a pioneer industrialist

Though Bengal was a trade hub for long, mostly Hindus made their fortune and wealth through business in the British period. Thanks to the British colonial policy, they had expanded their business and gradually started industrial activities in the early...

A Bangladeshi behind self-driving robots

The pandemic has led to a surge in food and packaged delivery services that require minimal human contact. This has led to the rise in demand for autonomous delivery by robots in some parts of the world. Even after the...

Sustaining manufacturing sector

The manufacturing sector currently contributes 17 per cent of the value added to the country's GDP as well as 90 per cent of exports. However, as is well-known, low-skilled and labour-intensive segment in the manufacturing sector still plays a significant...

Mongla port enhances cargo-handling capacity

The Mongla port has attained the capacity to handle gearless vessels as it procured necessary equipment, including heavy-duty cranes.The port authority in a recent notification said that it has procured a good number of cargo- and container-handling equipment to enhance...

Govt halts bank borrowing thru bills, bonds

Cash management is cited as prime concern as the government suspends its bank borrowing through cancelling auctions of both treasury bills or T-bills and bonds until August 31 amid swelling public coffers.Officials said the central bank communicated Tuesday the latest...

Investment abroad needs ‘BSEC nod’

Local businesses willing to make equity investment abroad will have to take consent from the securities regulator, too, if the deals are conducted in the form of 'capital issue'.The third claimant to authority over such offshore investments comes after reports...

Mind the gap: Fostering better trade for sustainable development

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was not happening fast enough to achieve the goals and targets by 2030.As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report states, "it is unequivocal" that...

Trade resiliency defies expectations

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is calling for economic self-reliance and raising trade barriers. China has adopted a dual circulation strategy which puts increased emphasis on domestic demand and relegates trade to a supporting role. The buzzword du jour...

BD won't give duty concession on TCI

Bangladesh will not allow concessionary duty benefit under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) treaty in case of documentation completed in a non-member SAARC country.Officials said the restriction would be applicable to all of the South Asian Association of...

Taka loses value

The exchange rate of Bangladesh currency depreciated significantly against the US dollar in the last couple of days mainly as higher demand for the greenback for settling import-payment obligations dragged the taka down. According to market operators, the Bangladesh Taka...

Last slab placed

South and west of the country are now connected through the dream Padma Bridge as all slabs on the 6.15-kilometre road were placed on the bridge's top layer on Monday.The Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) project set up the last road...