Further cut in export cash incentive before LDC graduation unlikely

Squeezing cash incentives anymore is unlikely before Bangladesh's graduation from the world poor-country club as the government prioritises propping up trade and industry to navigate global trade uncertainties, officials say. To support trade against adverse affect of tariff wars and...

Reflections on a nation in transition

One year on from the historic July-August uprising that brought down Sheikh Hasina's long-standing authoritarian regime, Bangladesh finds itself at a political crossroads. The revolution, hailed by many as a generational awakening and the end of a brutal dictatorship, has...

Tremor in FIRE City

New York City is famously called "the Big Apple". The euphemistic phrase serves to depict the city as an edifice of success, and grandeur. This great metropolis is actually home to three powerful money making enterprises of modern capitalism-Finance, Insurance...

Fast-tracking credit to performing businesses

In today's challenging economic landscape, access to timely and appropriate credit has become a critical factor for survival and growth. Yet, in Bangladesh, many fundamentally sound businesses are being denied financing due to a structural rigidity in our credit classification...

Radioactive Iodine shortage hits thyroid cancer treatment hard

A prolonged shortage of radioactive iodine -- a critical post-surgical treatment for thyroid cancer -- has left patients across Bangladesh in limbo, with many facing delays of over six months amid growing uncertainty and distress.The import of the life-saving medicine...

Authorities mull retendering after bid far exceeds estimate

Amid an extraordinarily high price quote in the bid, the authorities are now likely to retender one work package of MRT Line-5 to construct underground stations and their links with the main track.The Mass Rapid Transit Line-5 (MRT-5) project office...

Productivity increase key to weathering tariff storm

The recent reduction of the US reciprocal tariff on products imported from Bangladesh - from a previously declared 35 per cent to 20 per cent - has come as a much-needed relief for stakeholders in the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry....

The lost art of political humour

As he emerged from a meeting with the King at Buckingham Palace in the 1930s, Gandhi was asked if the monarch had commented on his threadbare clothes, meaning his dhoti. Gandhi quipped, 'No, he was wearing enough for the both...

Revenue board needs 35pc more collection

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will have to collect nearly 35 per cent higher revenue in the current fiscal year than FY25 to achieve its target. The income tax wing has to collect 43 per cent more tax than...

Are influencers surpassing the mainstream actors in showbiz stardom?

A few years ago, they were filming in bedrooms, reviewing food in local streets, or streaming commentary for a niche audience. Today, some of the most recognisable new faces in films, web series, television dramas, and streaming platforms, even in...

How the uprising exposes media fault lines

The role of mainstream news and broadcast media during the pro-democracy July-August uprising in 2024 remains a widely discussed and debated subject across all levels of society. It was, to put it mildly, a Catch-22 scenario for many journalists, especially...

Why Chittagong bourse's worth looks better than Dhaka's

The market cap of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) is higher than that of the main bourse - the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). The CSE does not have a higher number of listed securities, nor does it have more highly...

Fresh Tk 1.7b proposal sparks consultancy cost debate

The Finance Division has proposed a Tk 1.70-billion project to provide technical support for building a Dynamic Social Registry (DSR), aimed at ensuring transparency in selecting beneficiaries for social- protection programmes.The proposal comes just three months after the Executive Committee...

Marubeni pulls out of two metro projects

Japanese company Marubeni Corporation has withdrawn from two metro-rail projects without explaining the reason.Sources said the withdrawal came at a time when the Dhaka metro rail company is reviewing most of the mass rapid transit (MRT) line contract packages (CPs)...

Revolutionary upsurge of the masses

The popular uprising in Bangladesh on July-August last year resulted in the downfall of the autocratic and fascist regime of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024. On the day, her 15-year long vicious and repressive rule came to a sudden...

Thinking for oneself

The conversational AI chatbot, ChatGPT, can create texts like humans. So, writing of essays, reports, theses, answers to question in examinations at schools and colleges etc., are now being done by this AI tool. In other words, the machine is...

A deluge that drowns a dynasty

It began not with a bang, but with the whispers of rain on Dhaka’s concrete skin. The froth of human wrath soon keeps rolling on in a centripetal flow, until it engulfs the citadel of absolutism in power. It is...

India blocks BD jute-goods export with bloated anti-dumping duty

Dhaka has sought a two- month-time extension for submitting Bangladesh's position paper on mid-term review of prolonged anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed by trade-surplus India on Bangladesh's jute-goods exports, sources say.Apart from this tariff barrier, Bangladesh's external trade, including with the...

Border frictions and rising trade costs

The two neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and India share a land border of approximately 4,096 kilometres (2,545 miles), making it the fifth-longest international land border in the world. Under ideal circumstances, such geographic proximity should facilitate trade between the two...

Who won or lost in Trump's tariff war?

Accounting for close to 30 per cent of the global consumer spending, the USA has been the favoured export destination of the rest of the world. The incumbent US president, Donald Trump, thinks it's unfair. Since, in his view, exporting...

CSE eyes DSE listing, pins valuation hopes on upcoming commodity exchange

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) has proposed listing on the Dhaka bourse to complete the demutualisation process in the absence of self-listing regulations.If the securities regulator accepts the proposal, the CSE will offload 35 per cent of its shares under...

ERD directs ministries to bar donors from project meetings

The Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance has instructed all ministries and divisions to exclude development partner representatives from Project Steering Committee (PSC) and Project Implementation Committee (PIC) meetings convened by sponsor ministries and implementing agencies.In a...

Innovation is the key to Bangladesh's livestock sector transformation

Bangladesh's livestock industry suffers from a perfect storm of challenges that threaten both animal welfare and economic viability. Rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and inadequate infrastructure create conditions where farmers struggle to maintain productive operations whilst animals endure unnecessary stress.The...

Quality learning should get priority at DU

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved a Tk 28.41 billion project for the infrastructural development of Dhaka University (DU). The five-year project, scheduled for completion by June 30, 2030, includes the construction of six academic...

Monetary policy on right track

Despite a gradual moderation of the inflation in the last six months, the central bank has decided to maintain its tight monetary stance for another six months by keeping the policy rate unchanged at 10 per cent. The announcement of...

Collapsed highway section turns journey into 16-hour ordeal

A crumbling stretch of the Dhaka-Sylhet highway is turning a routine intercity journey into a nightmare, with travel times now stretching to 10-12 hours, and in some cases up to 16, particularly during the rainy season. The 10-kilometre section between...

WB guarantor consulting banks, BADC on modus operandi

With the go-ahead from the government and the central bank, World Bank Group's credit-guarantee platform will now open discussions with Bangladesh's banks and state agencies involved with import of essentials, officials said.The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is a financial...

Inside the vital role of a train guard

As a child, Robiul Islam Rumel watched the train guard wave the green flag and blow the whistle - a signal that set the wheels in motion. He did not understand the weight of the role back then. Today, he...

In the absence of a pro-farmer policy

Farmers in this country could not be more discriminated against. Growers of major crops appear to be only more so. This year potato farmers have produced a record high of 13 million tonnes of potato---4.0 million tonnes in excess of...

Electricity consumption data: an incomplete proxy for economic activity

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has been compiling and publishing national accounts since 1972. According to the BBS, nominal gross domestic product (GDP) stood at US$459 billion in FY24. Recently, Citibank Capital, a subsidiary of City Bank PLC, published a...