Govt issues one more T-bill

The government has introduced one more short-term treasury bill (T-bill) to manage its cash in a better way, officials said. First auction of the newly-introduced 14-Day T-bill will be held at the Bangladesh Bank (BB) today (Wednesday) as per the...

A world shadowed by ‘shadow economy’

None knows for sure the size of the global shadow economy, for most people do talk about tackling it but not many of them have ever tried to find perfect ways of measuring it.  Its definition is also somewhat blurred....

Revenue board won’t budge on scrapping package VAT

Despite protest by businesses, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) would prefer to scrap the package VAT system in the next fiscal year after finding poor revenue yield from the measure. According to the available data of the NBR, its...

B\'desh, Nepal joint survey next month to find BBIN road route

A joint survey between Bangladesh and Nepal under the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) to find the potential road route will begin on December 5, officials said. They said both the countries agreed to conduct the survey from Kathmandu...

Enabling the Asia-Pacific to continue to be the engine of global growth

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ?APEC? Economic Leaders' Summit in Lima, Peru from November 19 to 20. China has been an active participant and contributor, playing a significant role in promoting the construction of...

Building a shared vision for BRI

We live in a world of increasing interdependency and complexity, where international cooperation is necessary, however increasingly multifaceted and complicated. Global challenges such as climate change, global health and security issues require ever higher degrees of global effort and collaboration...

Cooperation for economic integration of South Asia

Economic integration is unification of economic policies among different states through partial or full abolition of tariff and non-tariff restrictions.  The framework of the theory of economic integration was first laid out by Jacob Viner (1950). He introduced terms trade...

On laggards and leaders

There is a large body of literature dealing with modern technology adoption. Quite obviously, the advent of modern technology, say in agriculture, tends to attract large and medium farms first and the smaller ones at a later stage. Even it...

Q1 income tax receipt well below target

Income-tax collection for government exchequer in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY) fell short of an even curtailed target by Tk 12.43 billon. Officials attributed the shortfall largely to a deficit in receipts from corporate businesses. The...

EC seeks Tk 3.35b more to prepare voter list, ID cards

The Election Commission (EC) has sought an additional allocation of Tk 3.35 billion from the government to prepare the voter list and the national identity cards, officials said. Some Tk 500 million has already been allocated for preparing the voter...

Ital-Thai again misses fiscal report deadline

Uncertainty to start counting concessional period of Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) project is yet to over, as its contractor once again missed the deadline for submission of financial report as per the contract. Italian-Thai Development PLC, contractor of the public-private...

Govt to appoint C&F agents to Mongla, Ctg seaports

The government is set to appoint clearing and forwarding (C&F) and transport agents to Mongla and Chittagong seaports for quick unloading and transport of imported fertilisers and other goods by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), officials said. To this effect,...

SDGs implementation: The role of social enterprises

Governments and the UN system have an enormous responsibility in overseeing the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But they cannot accomplish the task alone. Complexity and urgency of SDGs require new approaches that would literally mobilise every sector...

Southeast Asia gets trumped?

With his shocking victory in the US presidential election, Donald Trump has made history - and made a lot of people very afraid. In fact, his rise threatens to incite a revolution that shakes the foundations not only of American...

Hijab controversy: Champion beneath the veil

I don't know about you all, but I am pretty tired of the world's obsession with hijab and Muslim women. There has been much resistance and conflict in general over the hijab-wearing athletes participating in competitions. It is happening worldwide...

BB to seek remedies for receding remittance

The central bank is set to consult top bankers on remedies for revamping the receding remittance inflow to the country. A meeting of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) top brass with 30 managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) of...

Govt plans Tk 30b 2nd phase of Savar Tannery Estate

The government is contemplating the second phase of Savar Tannery Estate on 200 acres of land at a cost of around Tk 30 billion to accommodate the left-out tanneries in the first phase, supporting businesses, foreign entrepreneurs as well as...

Costs of controlling an epidemic

Introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organisation in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat as diabetes is taking the shape of an imminent epidemic, World Diabetes Day (WDD) is observed every...

The prospects of branding RMG

Bangladesh has almost 40 years of experience in ready-made garment (RMG). More than 4.0 million people are working in this labour-intensive industry and at the same time billions of dollars have been invested in this sector. According to the Bangladesh...

A case for rasgolla

'Rasgolla', perhaps the most popular and delectable of all sweets the Bangalees take pride in, has made news headlines for something unexplored before. This is its quality to be an effective substitute for alcoholic drinks. To go by Nitish Kumar,...

Luring MNCs to capital market

The issue that most foreign companies operating in Bangladesh are not listed on the stock market has been bothering both policymakers and investors for long. Yet there has not been any notable progress in luring them to the market in...

Trump\'s presidency: The fate of the Paris Agreement

The second week of November has been a a roller-coaster ride for global climate change action. The month kicked off on a high note with Paris Agreement coming into force on November 04, just two days prior to the 22nd...

Can global capitalism be saved?

The politics of economic anxiety has now driven the electorates of the United Kingdom and the United States into the hands of populists. If only, so the received wisdom goes, economies could get back to a more "normal" rate of...

Manpower shortage hits Ctg Customs House hard

As Customs House at the country's main seaport is reeling under an acute shortage of manpower, 'outsiders' get involved in carrying out the customs-related activities. More than one hundred outsiders interfere in the customs official procedures at the Chittagong Customs...

BD retrieves $15.25m more of stolen reserves

Bangladesh retrieved US$15.25 million more of its central bank's stolen money, a top banker disclosed in Dhaka Saturday. Major-General (Retd) John Gomes, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Philippines, received the funds in cash on behalf of the government from the...

Who is President Trump?

Donald Trump's stunning election victory has pushed the United States - and the world - into uncharted territory. The US has never before had a president with no political or military experience, nor one who so routinely shirks the truth,...

BPC seeks approval for US$50m ITFC loan

State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has sought immediate approval for US$ 50 million loan taken out from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a senior BPC official said. The state-run agency sent a letter to the ministry of power,...

PMO signals signing deal with UK rail co

Government high-ups have given the all-clear for a deal with DP Rail of the UK for building rail link between Dhaka and Paira seaport under a multibillion-dollar project. Officials said the Ministry of Railways (MoR) got the green signal from...

BD to set up jute viscose plant

Bangladesh will set up jute viscose plant with financial and technical assistance from China considering the huge export potential of the item, officials here said. A high-powered Chinese delegation, led by Vice-Minister Wang Tiankai, will visit Bangladesh next week to...

Stocks stay positive for 2nd week

Stocks finished slightly higher last week, extending the gaining spell for the two consecutive weeks, as optimistic investors remained active on sector-specific stocks. Analysts said the market posted slight gain during the week that ended on Thursday as mixed sentiments...