Predicament, prediction and prejudice

Bangladesh is destined to lose the tremendous economic growth momentum it has been witnessing in recent years. The sub-microscopic novel coronavirus that is wreaking havoc across the world has already placed the economy in a reverse gear. The question is...

Debt relief is the most effective pandemic aid

The nations of the developed world have responded to the Covid-19 crisis by supporting their domestic economies and financial systems in bold and unprecedented ways, on a scale that would have been unimaginable three months ago.In contrast, when the world's...

Businesses for waiving goods detention charge

Businesses have demanded waiver of detention charges of shipping lines for the containers, stuck up in customs ports during the general holiday due to Covid-19 pandemic.Importers said they cannot release products from ports due to shortage of labour and transportation...

Chinese contractors carry on with projects

While foreign contractors involved in development projects left the country after the outbreak of coronavirus, their Chinese counterparts are continuing their work.Though at a slow pace, project people said around 1,000 Chinese nationals have been working for the Padma bridge,...

DSE market PE ratio hits 10-year low

The overall market price-earnings ratio of Dhaka Stock Exchange reached rock bottom at 10.58, a 10 years low as of March 25 this year amid free-fall of stock prices.The ratio, which is the current market price divided by the earnings...

Search for Covid-19 cure

An invisible assassin is stalking the entire globe causing mayhem, havoc, disease and deaths, forcing panicked people to stay home even at the cost of livelihoods and leaving behind a trail of shattered economies and battered societies.As the world grapples...

How Covid-19 pandemic broke the system

With breathtaking speed, the coronavirus crisis sends shockwaves around the globe. Production lines have come to a standstill. Global supply chains are broken. Companies are filing for bankruptcy. Workers are laid off. Millions lose their livelihoods. Some countries have quickly...

Containing Covid-19 -- Vietnam way

Vietnam, just south of coastal China, is the 15th most populous country in the world with 97 million people. According to its Ministry of Health (MoH), as of April 13, there were 262 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 144 recovering...

BD asks missions abroad to explore new chances

The government has exhorted its missions abroad to explore new business opportunities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.The missions may seek such prospects and give necessary recommendations to the government for taking action accordingly, they added.To this...

One-fourth issues below face below

The year-long depressed capital market trend sent at least one-fourth issues below their face value of Tk 10 in the Dhaka Stock Exchange.According to DSE data, some 92 issues, including 35 mutual funds, are being traded below their face value...

Desperate times call for out-of-the-box policies

First of all, Covid-19 is by far the worst health crisis of our lifetime - described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a global pandemic, but one that is moving across borders with a shifting "eye of the storm"....

Needed: A 'people-first' language

The Coronavirus pandemic has led to global socioeconomic disruption, postponement or cancellation of sporting, religious, and cultural events, and widespread fears of supply shortages that have instigated panic buying. The technology industry, in particular, has been warning about delay in...

We shall overcome, some day

Caught by novel coronavirus (Covid-19) the world is passing through most deadly days. It has already cost more than 100,000 lives; 1.5 million more people around the world have fallen victim to the virus. The number of deaths follows geometric...

Hegemony shift in times of Covid-19

We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It...

To resume or not to resume

The government may have to extend the lockdown until the end of this month or beyond to rein in the deadly coronavirus, but at the same time it needs to resume economic activities, at least, partially very soon to save...

Ins policy for frontline public servants under scrutiny

The government is devising an insurance policy for its officials and employees, who are directly involved in the fight against the deadly coronavirus, sources have said.The state-owned Jiban Bima Corporation (JBC) has submitted a proposal in this regard in a...

Elongate it until curve flattens: Experts

The government will require enforcing prolonged lockdown to stem the spread of coronavirus, but strategies have to be devised to ease its pain, health experts and analysists said.Since the infection rate of deadly virus is climbing and it has yet...

Nuclear options: Rescuing Wall Street and the economy

In my April 08 piece in the Financial Express "Wall Street and the American Economy", I noted that skewed risk taking and over leveraged bets primarily contributed to the meltdown in mortgage-backed securities in 2007-08 and the Great Recession. That...

Does Nature hit back to exact vengeance?

Cities, one after another, all across the world are giving an eerie and haunted look. Busy, vibrant and full of life only weeks or months ago, those have turned virtually into ghost cities. Even for the generation most vulnerable, well...

Shutdown lands cos in trouble

Businesses are facing difficulties in submitting VAT returns due to country-wide shutdown induced by COVID-19 outbreak.The deadline for return is April 15, 2020.Staffers of many business houses said their offices remained closed from March 26 in the line with the...

If anomaly, dealers ‘to lose licence’

The government will cancel licence if it finds involvement of any dealer in any irregularity in selling essential items allocated by the state-owned trading agency, officials said.To this effect, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has asked its regional and...

GSK posts ever highest EPS in 2019

GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh Ltd has posted the ever highest earnings per share in 2019 thanks to closure of its unprofitable pharmaceuticals business in Bangladesh.The UK-based pharmaceuticals giant has reported EPS of Tk 81.83 for the year ended on December 31, 2019,...

Pharma cos rule the roost

The country's capital market was mainly driven by pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector in March following investors' increased participation in share transactions.On the trading sessions executed between March 8 and March 25, pharmaceutical and chemical companies had the highest contribution up...

Extensive tests: food relief: food production: curbing corruption

The Covid-19 cases have started to rise fast in Bangladesh, indicating an unsavoury prospect. The Government of Bangladesh is rightly increasing the number of tests for coronavirus, which is an absolute must to know how the pandemic is - or...

How to face real economic fallout of Covid-19

Governments around the world are pursuing extremely expansive monetary and fiscal policies to combat the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. But such largesse is appropriate for an old-style depression, not for this public-health crisis.We currently face a trade-off between...

A silent hero of the coronavirus crisis

Not to diminish the superhuman efforts of nurses, doctors, and health-care workers worldwide, but sometimes, no matter how hard one tries, and no matter how selflessly one sacrifices, one stands no chance against a more powerful enemy. The new coronavirus,...

E-commerce suffers on supply crunch

Online marketeers have been suffering from supply chain disruptions, inadequate manpower and assistance from law-enforcement agencies amid the countrywide lockdown to check COVID-19, sector insiders said.There has been a spike in e-commerce sales of commodities and health products like groceries,...

Congestion prolongs ships' waiting time

The average waiting time for vessels in Chittagong port has risen to seven days after the operator delays berthing amid space shortage, caused in part to COVID-19-linked shutdown.Some vessels are even waiting for nine days to get berthing."The waiting time...

MJL dividends remain steady in three years

MJL Bangladesh, the country's largest lubricant company, distributed almost same amount of dividends in last three fiscal years (FY) amid its mixed performance observed in EPS during the same period.The company distributed 45 per cent cash dividend for the year...

Most listed cement makers' earnings slump

Earnings of most of the listed cement manufacturers slumped in the recent quarters compared to the same period in the previous year.Out of the seven cement makers listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange, earnings per share (EPS) of five firms...