Therein lies one tragedy of football

There is nothing that can better define the power of football and make a football fan dance in an ecstasy of joy when seeing the ball hit the back of the net of your opposition team, and make you sob...

New partnership to bridge revenue data gap

The tax authorities are going to establish an institutional partnership for addressing the discrepancy in revenue collection data by the board and Controller General of Accounts (CGA) office.Recently, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has formed a high-powered body to...

Music as a profession for the new generation

'Musicians' career paths are as unique as their fingerprints,' said Peter Spellman. A time came when the world stopped purchasing CDs, but it continued to pay for music through digital distribution channels. A few countries, on the other hand, could...

Russia marches on, Senegal dances, Japan radiates

All our eyes watched a moving spectrum of football in the last three tournaments of this World Cup. Almost confirmed is Russia's proud march towards the knockout stage after the host country crushed Egypt with a dramatic 3-1 triumph, bagging...

NBR estimates revenue loss at Tk 25 billion

The revenue authorities have estimated Tk 25 billion losses in corporate tax collection in the upcoming fiscal year (FY) provided the budgetary proposal made in this connection comes into force from July.The finance minister, in his budget speech on June...

Fortune smiles on Sweden, Belgium and England

Again, VAR (Video Assis-tant Referee System) intervention is generating debates! VAR is replacing one sort of controversy with another.As you watch video replays in slow motion, at whatever frequencies you choose, it will always be a subjective interpretation of the...

Direct payment boost for local freelancers, remote workers

Bangladesh is slowly establishing itself as a powerhouse in the digital skills market, a detail evident through a growing number of small software firms and expert professionals who work for a global clientele. Unlike few years ago, when people mostly...

Poverty: Good and bad news

The Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016 has brought to the fore a number of interesting trends in poverty and inequality in Bangladesh. Apparently, the trends question the complacency looming large among the policy makers as far as poverty...

Kim upends Trump

On way home from the Singapore Summit, President Trump taunted President Obama and tweeted: "President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!". And two days later he again tweeted:...

China launches new forum to boost business with South Asian nations

A forum was formed in Kunming for fostering high-level policy dialogue and cooperation between China and South Asian nations. "Interconnectivity, business, poverty alleviation, and finance will also be the key areas for future cooperation identified in the first China-South Asia...

Customs to track all travellers

The customs authority is set to introduce a rule to maintain the record of the inbound and outbound overseas passengers.With the new rules, the government will be able to keep a data base of the passengers, before arrival and after...

ADB to lend $50m for microenterprise dev

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to lend US$50 million to help Bangladesh promote microenterprises led by women, finance ministry officials said.The fund will be channelled through Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).The state-run top financier for micro-lenders will then...

World Cup: Twists and turns dominate

On Saturday, France was awarded a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) penalty, a bit belatedly, after the foul by Joshua Risdon of Australia on Antoine Griezmann of France. It was pretty a nifty experience to see the magic of VAR!But immediately...

Trump-Kim historic summit

The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore was the first-ever 'face to face' encounter between a serving U.S. president and an authoritarian North Korean supreme leader in about...

WB's capital increase - multilateralism gets a shot in the arm

In April, governments from around the world agreed to a $13 billion capital increase for the World Bank Group (WBG), sending a clear signal that multilateralism is far from dead. The additional funding will strengthen the WBG's capacity to support...

China-S Asia trade more than doubles

The fifth China-South Asia Expo kicked off in southwest China's Yunnan province on Thursday. The theme of the expo is 'Integrating into the Belt and Road Initiative, Promoting Win-Win Cooperation'.Around 3900 business entities from 87 countries and regions, including 17...

Call money rate stable before Eid vacation

The inter-bank call money rate remained almost stable on Thursday, bankers said.The last working day before the Eid vacation saw a substantial rush for the withdrawal of cash from the banks.The call money rate ranged from 2.0 per cent to...

Confidence Cement shows steady profit growth in last four years

Confidence Cement Ltd has maintained steady growth in its net profits and dividend disbursements in last four years.The officials said the company was able to continue with the upward trend as its board and management focused their attention on business...

Current trends of social protection system

There is a growing consciousness of the benefits of social protection. It plays a key role in achieving sustainable development, promoting social justice and realising the right to social security for all. Thus, social protection policies are vital elements of...

Stock market bypassed, again

That the country's stock market has remained non-reactive to the budget for the fiscal year (FY), 2018-19, placed before the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) on June 09 last by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, is quite natural. In fact, there is...

Eid — a festival of rejoicing

Eid-ul Fitr and Eid-ul Azha are the two major religious festivals observed by the Muslims of Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world. The meaning of the Arabic word 'Eid' is 'festival' or 'joy'. On the other hand, the meaning of...

Socio-economic dimensions of Eid

Festivals are common to all societies and cultures. With the change of social and economic structures, the nature of festivals also undergoes change. But some festivals are so deeply rooted in the social organism that they continue to entertain people...

The Achilles' heel of the budget

Next to gross domestic product (GDP) growth, employment generation has become crucial because of the growing army of young unemployed. Particularly worrying is the incidence of unemployment among educated youth. It is estimated that two million youth with education at...

Banks’ Apr excess liquidity rises 11pc for CRR cut

The overall excess liquidity with the banks increased by nearly 11 per cent or Tk 77.50 billion in this April, after the central bank slashed the cash reserve requirement (CRR), officials said.The excess liquidity rose to around Tk 805 billion...

The limits of democratic delegation - the case of Euro

When Italy's president recently vetoed the appointment of the Eurosceptic Paolo Savona as finance minister in the government proposed by the Five Star Movement-League party alliance, did he safeguard or undermine his country's democracy? Beyond constitutional strictures specific to the...

Gaps in the national budget

The Finance Minister has presented a robust budget in Parliament. The budget has many bright aspects, but there are certain gaps which need to be looked into. The budget can fill in some of the gaps before approval. The media...

A budget biased towards bank & bankers

The Finance Minister has presented his 10th consecutive budget in the Jatio Sangsad on June 07. His prelude to the Budget Speech has been full of feelings and sentiments of his sincere efforts in offering the budget. Himself a language...

Problem lies over possibility of achieving growth rate

Annual budget of any government is the major policy instrument used for multiple objectives of macro-economic nature. Bangladesh is no exception to this. Among the major objectives that are sought to be achieved through budgetary income and expenditures are the...

Govt lifts tax waiver ceiling for local LCs

Traders may need to pay 3.0 per cent AIT on local letter of credit (L/C) from the next fiscal year (FY) without any exemption ceiling. In the proposed Finance Bill-2018, the government has withdrawn the existing waiver limit of Tk...

BD’s performance in World Bank policy assessment ‘average’

Bangladesh performed 'average' in the World Bank's (WB's) country policy and institutional assessment (CPIA) in 2017, said a new report.The International Development Association (IDA), the bank's soft-lending arm, has prepared the report. The IDA prepares such statement every year as...