Worst-ever economic depression likely

The country's economic sectors might face a worst-ever recession in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a position paper of commerce ministry.The paper was presented at a high-level meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) recently.It said...

Slack quarantine at land ports poses major risk

The number of inbound passengers from India through Benapole land customs stations has increased significantly in recent days, thus, heightening the risk of coronavirus spread further, said officials and local people. Since March 26, some 800 Bangladesh nationals entered through...

Govt yet to take steps to convert trains, launches into isolation centres

The government has received a number of proposals from different quarters to set up isolation centres for coronavirus-infected people to prevent further spread of the virus, as the number of COVID-19 cases is rising gradually.The death toll from coronavirus rose...

Moving out of the comfort zone

A very cliched phrase in our lives ‘moving out of the comfort zone’ is often used as if it is as easy as moving down a stair. Almost all of us have been advised to move out of our comfort...

COVID-19: Economic perils and the next budget

The year 2020 began with doubts whether it would be possible to sustain socio-economic advancements attained during the last few years. The reason is the depressing state of major indicators such as negative export-import growth, large revenue deficit, falling private...

Demographics and economic wellbeing

'Finance and Development', a widely circulated quarterly journal of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has come up with a novel cover-story in its March-2020 issue. Captioned 'The Long Good Life - Demographics and Economic Wellbeing', it contains as many as...

Climate emergency must build a resilient and sustainable future

The unprecedented public health emergency triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and its multi-faceted impact on people's lives around the world is taking a heavy toll on Asia and the Pacific.Countries in our region are striving to mitigate the massive socioeconomic...

Importers start taking delivery of goods

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 07: The stockpile of the containers at the Chittagong port, the prime sea port of the country, is likely to decrease next week as the authority exempted the port store-rent for delivery of the imported goods within the...

Transporters in dire straits amid nationwide lockdown

Hardship of daily-earner transport workers has reached an unbearable state during the ongoing lockdown in the country for not getting any financial support from welfare funds of workers' unions and owners' associations. According to unofficial data, the country has more...

NBR to expand import customs assessment

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to expand the customs assessment work at ports covering all imports barring the commercial ones during the ongoing shutdown that is now in place to check COVID-19 outbreak. The customs wing issued...

SDF seeks grant proposals to mitigate corona losses

The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) has invited grant proposals from its member countries for projects aimed at mitigating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials.Public and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional...

BMBA for reduction of corporate tax

Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) has prepared a set of budget proposals including more reduction of corporate tax for listed companies.The BMBA sent their budget proposals, made for the fiscal year 2020-21, to the chairman of National Board of Revenue...

Wall Street and the American economy

Although Wall Street is many things to many people, in reality what is indisputable is that its all-encompassing impact -- not just on the American economy but on the global -- is overwhelming and enduring, to say the least. Wall...

Mobilising domestic resources to fight COVID19

The cost of fighting the coronavirus on society and the economy will be very high. Around 52.0 million or 85 per cent of the country's workers are depended on various informal economic activities, most of whom are currently unemployed due...

Discretion, not rules, becomes norm

People are subjected to discrimination during assessment of their tax files due to the absence of a central guideline from the National Board of Revenue, or NBR.The intervention by tax commissioners and high-ups in tax offices causes inordinate delay and...

TCB trucks fail to meet demand despite thin consumers' presence

The dealers appointed by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) have posted trucks at different parts of the city on Monday, but with a very limited number of items. As a result, the consumers alleged that they failed to purchase...

Some 73pc MNCs see price erosion in 1 yr

Multinational companies suffered losses between 7.25 per cent and 62.23 per cent in last one year until March 25 this year in tandem with the price erosion by most of the local companies.Of the 11 multinational companies listed on local...

Fearing shrinking remittance inflow

The Covid-19 fallout may result in a significant fall in the coming months in the inflow of remittance, considered the lifeline of many rural families. This, experts say, amid slump in export earnings, will be another big shock for the...

Saving lives, protecting livelihoods

'Saving lives and protecting livelihoods ought to go hand in hand. We cannot do one without the other', was the message KristalinaGeorgieva wished to convey at a press conference that was also addressed by World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General...

ICT sector trade bodies seek Tk 19.3b grant, soft loans

Five trade bodies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector have sought Tk 19.3 billion as grant to overcome the losses emanated from the Covid-19 pandemic. Having around 6,000 to 7,000 members, they also demanded collateral-free loans at 2.0...

Corporates join hands with govt

As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), large companies like banks and pharmaceuticals have joined forces with the government to fight COVID-19.The Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) has raised a Tk 1.36-billion fund for the humanitarian cause.Twenty-seven older private...

Firms take advantage of lax implementation by BSEC

Some 149 sponsor-directors and 45 listed firms have yet to comply with the minimum shareholding rules, although eight years had elapsed since the enactment of the rules.Individually, the directors did not hold minimum 2.0 per cent shares while 45 firms...

Four youths improvise ventilator -- in the time of Covid-19 pandemic

Wise men say, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Add humanity and goodwill to that, it is bound to bring amazing result. The recent breakthrough in developing ventilator, a very important medical equipment, using totally indigenous materials and technology is...

Paradigm of separation rather than unity

A new paradigm, contrary to what has so far been espoused, of human bonding is being promoted. The planet's inhabitants must keep them segregated as much as possible from each other to stay safe. If segregation sounds strong because it...

Localisation of SDGs to counteract Covid-19 fallout

It is not possible to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) solely at the call of the governments or world leaders at the United Natios (UN), even with only national-level programmes. These multifaceted development goals have to be achieved by participation...

Govt warns state-owned banks against car misuse

The government has warned the state-owned banks and agencies against misuse of cars by their directors, officials said.It has also asked them to strictly follow the existing policy issued by the Bangladesh Bank in 2019, they added.It mentioned that stern...

Govt set to use launches as Covid-19 'isolation centre'

The government is set to use passenger launches as 'isolation centre' for Covid-19 patients, if needed, an official said. "Passenger launches could be used as 'isolation centre' following the prescribed health safety guidelines to prevent the coronavirus outbreak, if the...

Reorienting state-owned enterprises towards sustainability

This year started with the news of the appearance of a new virus, Covid-19. The impact and severity of its effects in public health, mortality and the world economy are overwhelming. No public health system was prepared for this crisis,...

Portfolio values of MFs see 13 per cent erosion

Portfolio values of listed mutual funds (MFs) declined up to 13 per cent at current market price in last one month following price fall witnessed by listed securities.DSEX, the broad index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), declined 16 per cent...

Square Pharma to invest Tk 3.50b for business expansion

Square Pharmaceuticals, country's top pharmaceutical company witnessed a steady performance in operational, financial and profitability thanks to its product quality and expanded market.The country's largest pharma company's turnover was Tk 50.87 billion for the year ended on June 30, 2019...