BB heist bodes ill for market confidence, investment: Moody\'s

Global credit-rating agency Moody's says the Bangladesh Bank cyber-heist bodes ill for market confidence, investment or financial stability in the country if there is an escalation of its implications. Though the direct credit implications of the cyber-heist are minimal, but,...

Dhaka, Delhi set modalities of building two Indian SEZs

Dhaka and New Delhi in a joint meeting Tuesday set modalities of building two special economic zones in coastal Mongla belt and in Kushtia that would be dedicated to Indian investors. Officials said the Indian Economic Zones (IEZs) - formally...

More budgetary allocations needed for building skilled workforce

The trend, tradition and culture of preparing a national budget in the present advanced but financially and economically jolted world have been shaken. Although the aims of political leaders and state policymakers are to ensure sustainable growth, enhance employment opportunities,...

Widening tax net: Judicious distribution of tax burden

The supplementary budget for the FY 2015-16 and proposed budget for FY 2016-17 will be  placed before parliament in less than a month.  According to the legislative rules and procedure, the supplementary budget will be cleared within a week after...

Job prospects in furniture sector

The furniture industry of Bangladesh has the potential to emerge as a large employment generating sector if local training institutes can adapt to meet the changing demand. Comprising some 71,000 enterprises (micro, small and medium) and employing about 1.8 million...

Britain\'s enemy within

Democracy everywhere is facing serious challenges. The United States is gripped by the most bizarre presidential primary campaign in living memory, with populist outsiders threatening to topple established party machines. Brazil is paralysed by constitutional crisis. Europeans trace their malaise...

Iran struggles for oil exports despite the nuclear deal

Contrary to the expectations, Iran is finding it extremely difficult to translate into reality its President Hasan Rouhani's hopes of bringing economic relief and new prosperity to the country based on a resurgent energy sector. The hopes were generated from...

BD-Nepal commerce secy-level meet today

Bangladesh and Nepal are likely to sign deal to provide preferential trade and duty-free access facilities to each other. The commerce secretaries of the two neighbouring countries are meeting in Dhaka today (Tuesday) to fisnalise the list of products, which...

Govt to okay Tk 3.37b earth-filling project

The government is going to approve a project proposal for earth-filling 918.5 acres of land for building the proposed 1320-megawatt thermal power plant at Rampal. The earth-filling work costs over Tk 3.37 billion, officials said.      To push forward the move...

BD to net $1.5b FDI a year with PPP bait

 The country hopes to net some US$ 1.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) a year as it has created an enabling investment environment under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) paradigm. Authorities concerned aired such high hopes based on the groundwork done...

BD, Eurasian countries move to establish common market

Bangladesh and Eurasian countries are close to establish a common market to work jointly for developing a trade and economic bloc, officials said. Establishment of the proposed common market will be a milestone in development of Bangladesh and Eurasian countries...

StanChart official backs banking sector\'s digitisation drive

A senior Standard Chartered official has laid emphasis on pursuing the ongoing digitisation process in the banking system along with introducing innovative services for the clients as a means to boost the banking industry. Alex Manson, Global Head of Transaction...

Ensuring access of the poor to justice through legal aid mechanism

Bangladesh is a developing country where respect and awareness regarding social justice and human rights are still at a low level. The condition is worse for the underprivileged mainly among the char and haor people, indigenous groups, ethnic and religious...

Talking about a flat rate of VAT

VAT is again at the centre of pre-budget discussions as the day of budget presentation is drawing nearer. The discussion has gained momentum as media reports indicate that a new law envisaging a single VAT rate has been drafted by...

Evolution of agricultural policies

Bangladesh's agricultural policies have, for the last four decades, evolved in response to changing needs of time. Immediately after independence, as we may recall, policies were formulated keeping in view the strategic role of the public sector. It was a...

Why do countries differ in total factor productivity?

Theoretical and empirical literatures on sources of economic growth emphasise on factor accumulation and factor productivity as two major sources of growth. Though factor accumulation can explain a significant part of economic growth, it can't explain the sustained long-run economic...

EU seeks transparent rules to facilitate investment in BD

The European Union (EU) wishes to see the relevant rules and regulations to be transparent in some specific fields to facilitate fresh investment in Bangladesh, officials said ahead of a bilateral business meet. EU officials will sit with trade officials...

Meghna Bank to introduce chip-based mobile banking

Privately-owned Meghna Bank is set to introduce chip card-based mobile financial services for the first time in Bangladesh by July this year, the bank's top executive said. "We're now working to introduce the card-based (EMV-enabled) mobile financial services shortly  draw...

EU likely to extend ban for more than one year

The European Union (EU) is likely to extend the ban on import of betel leaves (paan) from Bangladesh for more than one year due to non-compliance with EU relevant rules, officials said.   The EU has recently given the embassy of...

The best solutions to the most serious health issues that remain in Bangladesh

Over recent decades Bangladesh has seen amazing improvement across many health indicators. Maternal mortality has decreased 75 per cent, infant mortality has halved, and life expectancy has surpassed that of both India and Pakistan. The progress has been so impressive...

When stealing food is no crime

The ruling by the Italian highest court of appeal on stealing of food is momentous. It is certainly going to be reckoned as a milestone in the history of judiciary anywhere. The court set aside an earlier lower court sentence...

Innovative contractor, indeed!

A recent newspaper report on the use of bamboo slices instead of mild steel (MS) rods in the construction of a two-storey biological research centre at Damurhuda upazila in Chuadanga has only reconfirmed the widespread suspicion about the quality of...

Macro analysis: Growth number eclipses reality

The annual ritual of GDP-growth debate has resumed with an all too familiar flavour: the government swatting away less optimistic growth figures coming from every direction. That the economy reportedly grew by 7.0 per cent adds a little spice to...

Govt out to devise means for avoiding tax exemption

The government is weighing the possibility of paying from its own coffer the duties and taxes of public-private partnership and joint-venture projects and considering the same as part of its equity in those projects. Officials said the move came following...

Import payments of ACU member-states drop

Import payments of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) member-countries dropped significantly in recent months following declining trend of commodity prices in the global market, officials said. The import payments fell by more than 12 per cent to US$879 million during...

Govt set to extend VAT exemption facility for refrigerator, motorbike manufacturers

The government is set to extend the VAT (value added tax) exemption facility for local manufacturers of refrigerators, air conditioners and motorcycles for two more years, officials said. The initiative has been taken aiming to develop these sectors and increase...

US again tags labour rights to any trade benefit for BD

The United States has tagged ensuring labour rights binding any trade benefit for Bangladesh under any scheme through which it helps least developed nations, officials said. "…improvement in the labour sector is the threshold for Bangladesh to qualify for any...

Eradication of extreme poverty - best way to celebrate Golden Jubilee of independence

Bangladesh has made impressive gains in reducing poverty over the last two and half decades. During this period, headcount poverty ratio declined from 56.7 per cent to 24.8 per cent. An estimate shows Bangladesh achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target...

Why Stephen Hawking said \'Philosophy is Dead\'

Again physicist Stephen Hawking stunned his audiences and readers at the Google's Zeitgeist conference by declaring 'Philosophy is Dead.' In his speech he told now philosophers are unable to update their knowledge on the continuous development in sciences, especially physics...

Irrigation expands as equipment market liberalised

The agricultural sector holds the key to Bangladesh's economic growth and development although the sector's share to GDP (gross domestic product) has drastically declined from 50 per cent in the 1970s to below 20 per cent in the recent years....