Climate Finance and Bangladesh SDGs

“We do not inherit the Earth from our parents; we borrow it from our children.” — Native American Proverb.Few nations are as exposed to the wrath of climate change as Bangladesh. Divided by over 700 rivers, populated by over 170 million people, and...

CPA plans Saif Powertec tenure extension

CHATTOGRAM, June 20: The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has proposed extending the contract with Saif Powertec Limited to continue operating the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT), as the current agreement is set to expire on July 7.Sources at the port...

Developing securitisation mkt under study

A study gets going to find ways of developing a robust securitisation market in Bangladesh to enable lenders and financing companies to raise capital and enhance liquidity, officials said.The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank...

Project worth Tk 46.62b up for ECNEC approval

Another hefty sum of Tk 31.74 billion is to be invested over the next two years in maintenance dredging along the 75-kilometre channel of the Payra Port, which continuously faces navigability challenges for its distance from the sea estuary.Additionally, two...

A case for holding next polls under a caretaker government

The revolutionary fervour that once electrified the nation and toppled Sheikh Hasina's despotic rule is fading fast. Disillusioned by the stumbling performance of the interim government, the people of Bangladesh now have shifted from utopian ideals to a single, urgent...

Donald Trump lacks a stable mind

Unarguably, America is the most powerful country in the world now, economically and militarily. It has been so since the end of the Second World War. The architecture of the new world order with rule-based and procedure-bound institutions that emerged...

Deposits in Swiss banks soar 23-fold amid political upheaval

After two years of steep decline, Bangladesh-linked money in Swiss banks surged dramatically in 2024, soaring about 23 times and raising fresh questions amid political unrest and concerns over illicit capital flight.The Swiss National Bank (SNB) released the Annual Banking...

Drone technology is revolutionising agriculture

In the verdant, river-laced plains of Bangladesh, agriculture remains more than just an economic sector, it is the very pulse of the nation. With over 41 per cent of the population engaged in farming and agriculture contributing around 14 per...

Record revenue shortfall feared in outgoing fiscal

A record revenue shortfall worth nearly Tk 1.0 trillion is likely in the eventful outgoing fiscal, largely for sluggish private-sector investment, poor execution of development projects and banking-sector volatility.Such shrinkage in resources of revenue is but a foregone conclusion as...

Govt mulls over issuing 'Sukuk' bond in favour of BSL

The government is considering issuing Shariah-based Sukuk bond in favour of the state-owned Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL) for helping settle its existing debt liability.The BSL, which is a public limited company and engaged in hospitality business, is liable to pay...

30 months on, no meaningful action to compensate UFS scam victims

Scam-hit asset management company (AMC) Universal Financial Solutions (UFS) has not yet paid a single penny back out of the Tk 2.07 billion siphoned off from its clients' funds about 30 months back. As the fund embezzlement made headlines, the...

Hilsa threatened by microplastics

The hilsa is a gourmet's delight for its unique taste, distinctive flavour and high nutritional value. It is not just a great delicacy but a symbol of national pride, feted as the national fish. Bangladesh takes pride as the world's...

We live in apocalyptic times

We live in apocalyptic times. We inhabit an era where impunity, in the internal politics of nations and in international relations, threatens the future of civilisation. We speak of human rights, of the rule of law but then are witness...

Money-whitening facility unlikely in next fiscal

The much-debated black-money-whitening facility is unlikely in the upcoming fiscal year as the provision incorporated into the Finance Ordinance may finally be dropped amid outcry.The finance ordinance, promulgated on June 2, 2025 to ratify the interim government's maiden budget, has...

Leveraging demographic challenges through transformative youth-led MSMEs

Bangladesh, historically recognised for its young population and a median age of 26, is now at a crucial turning point in its demographic transition. Young population is the most important resource that can contribute to accelerated economic and social development...

Bamboo as an eco-friendly alternative to wood

Search for more environment-friendly and sustainable alternatives to many familiar practices is now the trend of the time. And as a country highly vulnerable to environmental hazards, it is an imperative that Bangladesh should opt for such alternatives for as...

Hospitals yet to set up dedicated zones

Amid a steady rise in Covid-19 infections in Bangladesh and neighbouring countries, a number of private hospitals have yet to establish dedicated zones for patients even though they are handling bulk testing. Government hospitals, too, remain largely unprepared to isolate...

Ministry plans to sell 2.8m jute bags at subsidised rates

The Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MoTJ) has come up with a plan for selling 2.8 million pieces of jute bags at subsidised prices for the purpose of carrying commodities as alternative to poly-bags. To this effect, the ministry has...

Debt-equity ratio for foreign firms may go

A capital-financing constraint like debt-equity ratio for foreign firms in Bangladesh in availing term loans in local currency may go now as the government plans to relax the rules to boost industrial growth, officials say.Presently, the foreign owned/controlled companies engaged...

Digital finance & policymaking for MSME resilience

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the driving force behind many of the large economies worldwide. While their presence serves as a hub for entrepreneurship development in countries like Bangladesh, most of them struggle to access finance. This lack...

Stuck in limbo Tk 1.47t new MRT works

Large-haul rapid travel leapfrogging the gridlock in Dhaka remains an unfulfilled dream as Tk1.47-trillion new metro-rail works miss takeoff for endorsement procrastination. Sources have said anomalies in implementing the already-running metro rail on the designated line 6 derailed three more...

Drug makers' growth hinges on whether they can raise money

The country's pharmaceutical industry has great potential to grow further, with the rising income and aged population and expansion of export markets, but it has not yet built capacity to explore fund-raising options, including IPO. Of as many as 200...

Looming new tax overshadows Bangladesh's nascent OTT industry

A promising industry growing out of over-the-top (OTT) platform, still in its infancy in Bangladesh with an average lifespan of just four to five years, faces a major new challenge as the government proposes a 10-percent supplementary duty in the...

Ending hostilities in Middle East

The dangerous escalation in the Middle Eastern conflict with Israel's decapitation campaign against Iran's senior military leaders, nuclear scientists and attacks on the country's military and nuclear research facilities in the wee hours of Friday (June 13) followed by Iran's...

Risk-based reforms could cut food import delays by 80pc: Study

The average clearance time for food and agricultural imports in Bangladesh could be slashed by up to 80 per cent through targeted risk-management reforms, a new study has found. It said that quick release of such products would not only...

Govt to endorse new nat'l strategy

The interim government is set to adopt a new national strategy for prevention of money laundering and illicit financial outflow from the country with incorporation of a few stringent provisions into it, officials said.The government has already decided on preparing...

Eight projects in ADP for July uprising victims

Several ministries and divisions have proposed a total of eight projects, with a combined estimated cost of over Tk 38.13 billion, for honouring and rehabilitating the participants and victims of the July 2024 student-led anti-discrimination uprising.The initiatives have been taken...

Stop issuing fake licence to drivers

Although much has been said about ending chaotic traffic and ensuring road safety, the interim government has failed to bring about any perceptible change in terms of traffic congestion and road accidents. The roads remain as deadly as ever. According...

In quest of a practical budget

The annual budget of the government is the most crucial fiscal event which has a bearing on the living conditions of all social groups. It is the main conduit of national resource mobilisation and management. Every year in June, the...

Govt mulls signing rice import pact with India

The interim government mulls over making a rice-import pact with the government of India in order to help keep the former's distribution channel functioning, official sources said.The import of rice has been planned under a government to government (G2G) arrangement...