The sartorial in political leaders

Of late much has been made of the less than elegant appearance of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House during his meeting with US President Donald Trump. The meeting, which quickly degenerated into a verbal joust, with Trump...

Banks' deposit, pvt credit growth falls due to high inflation

The growth of overall bank deposits decelerated in February 2025, following weaker credit growth in the private sector, officials said.The aggregate deposit growth in the country's banking system came down to 7.88 per cent in February 2025 from 8.29 per...

Investment summit ushers in a paradigm shift

The four-day Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 concluded recently with a blend of optimism, critical reflections and strong participation from global and local stakeholders. While not every expectation was met, the commitment to delivering a summit of global standards remained at...

Bangladesh economy in transition

Unarguably, Bangladesh economy pivoted into transition after the regime that was in power for over a decade and a half was ousted violently, leaving little by way of continuity in economic policy making. Restructuring and re-configuring the shattered financial sector...

Pvt off-dock investors allowed to handle 12 more imported goods at Ctg port

The government has allowed private off-dock investors to handle 12 more imported goods in Chittagong Port.Currently, some 19 private off-docks are allowed to transfer, unstuff and deliver 38 imported goods while they release all of the export goods.The long-cherished demand...

Foreign investors exit equity market as fresh concerns replace optimism

Foreign investors have retreated from Bangladesh's equity market once again over persistent economic challenges and political uncertainties after signs of a return following political changeover in August last year. Economic reform measures taken by the interim government gave rise to...

Bangla calendar and Pahela Boishakh

Life is a ceaseless voyage over time – from the cradle to the grave; but the starting point of the cosmic phenomenon called time is still a mystery. Some people claim that it started with the big bang of creation....

Old wine in a new bottle won't do

The showdown between two groups of the same political party at Milonghat ferry point of the river Bangshi in Savar exposes the prevalence of the degenerative politics for which the country has paid through its nose. Ever since the ouster...

Investors want to see positive change

If economic growth and creation of jobs for close to the projected 4.0 million unemployed people in Bangladesh in 2025 are to be the primary concern for the policymakers, then the recently held investors' summit in Dhaka bears special significance....

Japanese consortium set for operation, maintenance job

A Japanese consortium is likely to get operation and maintenance work of the newly-built third terminal of the country's prime international airport for 15 years as the preliminary bid discussion went on successfully.However, the consortium is likely to monitor Biman...

25 dev projects lined up for foreign funding

The Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance is set to host a meeting of the "foreign assistance search committee" today to finalise foreign funding for 25 development projects proposed for inclusion in the Annual Development Programme (ADP)...

AB Bank boosts focus on SMEs, retail banking

AB Bank PLC plans more focus on SMEs and retail banking, aiming to strengthen its ongoing financial inclusion initiative and bring more unbanked people into the banking system, the bank's top executive has said."We'll prioritise SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises),...

Shaping up the future of business leadership

The Islamic University of Technology (IUT) hosted one of the most prestigious national business case competitions-SMC Plus Presents BizNation 2.0 recently. Organised by IUT Career and Business Society (IUT CBS), the event brought together some of the most promising young...

Stop encroachment of playgrounds

Every afternoon, children from Old Dhaka's Lakshmibazar neighbourhood would gather in the area's only playground-a small open space amid a concrete jungle-to play and get a breath of fresh air. But on March 20, a local resident named Habibur Rahman...

Growing AI market to stir global economy

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly change the global economy in the near future due to the fast-growing competition among nations that tap its benefits. Advanced countries are well ahead in the competition thanks to their...

CUFL suspends production for gas crisis

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 11: Chattogram Urea Fertiliser Company Limited (CUFL) suspended its production on Friday due to a gas crisis.Sources said the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KDGCL) stopped gas supply to CUFL in the morning, forcing the CUFL to halt...

Water supply cost set to rise by Tk 28.28b more

The cost of the first investment initiative by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) to bring water to the capital from the Meghna is set to rise by another Tk 28.28 billion.The Local Government Division (LGD) has submitted...

Next budget likely Tk 7.92t with doable targets

Bangladesh's upcoming budget may be Tk 7.92 trillion in size, smaller than the current one, as the interim government walks a tightrope amid a subdued trend in revenue earnings and foreign-aid inflow in the present context. Officials give the possible...

Small joys in small things no longer to be found

The world has transformed phenomenally over the past two decades, courtesy of digitisation of communication that has made life faster and easier. Saving money and time has been the primary objective. But do all people spend the time they save...

Mantas, the boat people

Kalu Sarder does not exactly know which of his ancestors lived on land. Growing up, he learned from his parents that his forebears were terrestrial inhabitants in the dim and distant past. One of them started living on a boat...

Bangladesh's trade with Bhutan, Nepal marginal

Bangladesh's bilateral trade with Bhutan and Nepal is marginal compared to its overall external trade despite having a preferential trade arrangement with Bhutan. Bangladesh signed the first-ever preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Bhutan in 2022.In FY23, Bangladesh exported 48,067 metric...

Interim govt averse to cost hike, tenure extension

The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is set to be revised the fourth time with a significant increase in both time and cost for a number of reasons that include wrong planning and design from the beginning. The other reasons...

War on the freedom-loving peoples and neo-colonial exploitation

Modern civilisation is slipping fast into a humanitarian crisis. With the Western powers led first by the United Kingdom and then the United States of America demonstrably since the World War II, sowing the seeds of discords in Asia, Africa...

Defaulted bank loans in Bangladesh and the IMF

Bangladesh was supposed to implement its new loan reclassification policy as of first April. Now it seems that because of the vulnerabilities of the banking sector, Bangladesh Bank will renegotiate the programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a mission...

Why banks are wary of special fund for capital market

A majority of the country's 52 local banks have not shown much interest in creating the special fund that the central bank introduced in 2020 for secondary market investment without the need to keep provision for unrealized losses. While the...

IMF cuts extra tax revenue target to Tk 510 billion

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slightly reduced Bangladesh's requirement of additional tax revenue collection, which was brought down to Tk 510 billion for the next fiscal year.The amount was reduced from the earlier-set amount of Tk 570 billion after...

Govt to issue Tk 20b Sukuk bond in May

The government will raise Tk 20 billion by issuing the sixth Sukuk bond in the second-week of next month (May) to implement a development project in the Rajshahi division.The decision was made at the first meeting of the Shariah Advisory...

NBR may phase out lower corporate tax

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is considering phasing out reduced corporate tax rates for apparel exporters as the benefits have remained in place for a longer period of time.In the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the tax authorities...

A paradigm shift in investing

Bangladesh has a history of sacrificing the growth of both foreign and local investment at the altar of bureaucratic red tape and corruption at various stages of the investment process, political rent-seeking, infrastructural weakness, and inefficiency. On the first day...

Partition: The old sub-continental wounds

In April 1947, Louis Mountbatten, Britain's last Viceroy in India, got down in earnest to find a solution to the problem of independence for India on the basis of a partition of the country.In April 1974, the foreign ministers of...