Cost and returns in agriculture

Costs and returns are important considerations in farming as in business. Farmers all over the world are rational - they want to maximise profits by minimising costs. The general perception is that farmers in Bangladesh, especially rice farmers, are deprived...

Constraints: Understanding the nature of foreign investment

By way of summing the puzzle behind this series (whether infrastructural development overlooking the Bay can survive a contentious playing field), this article reviews some obvious constraints, before stock-taking opportunities in the next. Since foreign investment has emerged as the...

Consumption and global market

What David Recardo said 250 years ago still constitutes the basics of international trade. The difference between then and now is that his theory of comparative advantage is becoming increasingly global. To understand the underlying truth of the theory, one...

Cost and returns in agriculture

Costs and returns are important considerations in farming as in business. Farmers all over the world are rational - they want to maximise profits by minimising costs. The general perception is that farmers in Bangladesh, especially rice farmers, are deprived...

Stocks break 5-day losing spell

Stocks edged marginally higher on Monday, snapping five consecutive sessions of losing streak as investors went on late-hour buying spree on large-cap stocks. The market opened with a positive note, gaining nearly 16 points within first 30 minutes of trading,...

Asia-Pacific trade slowing: ESCAP report

Asia and the Pacific remains the most dynamic region of the global economy but growth in regional trade and investment flows is slowing. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) made this observation in...

DSE, CSE open positive

The country's twin-bourse – Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) – witnessed positive trend in early hour of trading on Monday, after previous day’s steep fall. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went up by 10.29...

US proposes Ticfa talks Nov 23

Bangladesh is considering US proposal for holding bilateral talks in Washington under the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) on November 23-24, with the GSP issue in mind, official sources said. They said the commerce ministry got down to...

New CNG auto fares take effect

CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers in the capital were seen reluctant to go short distances on metered-fare under the new fare structure on the first day of its enforcement on Sunday. However, most passengers and CNG-run auto-rickshaw owners were seen satisfied with...

Poor tax collection sets IMF-NBR agenda

Government's poor tax collection is set to be one of major agenda of talks during an IMF mission's meet with the revenue board during its upcoming visit to Bangladesh. A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to...

Govt moves to frame \\\'Finance Company Act\\\'

The government has initiated a process of framing a law titled 'Finance Company Act 2015' with the abolition of existing age-old 'Financial Institution Act 1993.' As part of the move, the government will sit with stakeholders to finalise the draft...

The Satyam scandal: Impact on economy

What is the Satyam scam precisely about?  It is about corporate governance and fraudulent auditing practices allegedly in connivance with auditors and chartered accountants. The company misrepresented its accounts both to its board, stock exchanges, regulators, investors and all other...

Causes behind question leak

The virus of question leak shows no sign of succumbing to the aggressive legal antibiotics administered. Gangs involved in leaking questions of public examinations, admission tests, written examination for superior services (Bangladesh Civil Service) or other lucrative jobs are getting...

The dilemma over MIC status

Borrowing from traditional major lenders, it seems, would soon become a case of Hobson's choice for Bangladesh under the changed circumstances. The providers of large volume of soft loans, of late, have started changing the stance on terms of lending...

Crackdown on raw jute hoarding begins

The government has launched a crackdown on hoarders of raw jute in a bid to prevent any artificial crisis in supply of the raw material in the domestic market. The Department of Jute (DoJ) started the drive against stockists as...

Stocks plunge with thin participation

Stocks fell sharply on Sunday, extending the losing spell for the five consecutive sessions with thin participation, as the investors went on panic-driven sell-offs. The market opened with a steep fall and prime index of the major bourse dipped below...

DSE, CSE plunge at opening

The prices of most of the shares on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) plunged in early hour of trading on Sunday, the opening session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, plummeted...

BD retains 5.1pc share of global clothing export

Despite slowdown in growth, Bangladesh retained the five per cent share of the global clothing export in 2014. The country also continued to remain the third largest clothing exporter after China and European Union (EU). The International Trade Statistics 2015,...

ADB eager to invest in metro rail project

Asian Development Bank (ADB) is eager to invest in metro rail project as the government is considering starting a feasibility study for building two more mass transit lines in Dhaka city. Official sources said the Ministry of Road Transport and...

The Satyam scandal: Causes, consequences and cures

The Satyam scandal has shaken corporate India, and damaged its reputation with investors, domestic and foreign. It turns out that founder and CEO B. Ramalinga Raju invented $1.0 billion in cash, which never existed. How could the auditors miss this...

Technological progress: Bane or boon?

Once upon a time, books were the sole source of knowledge and information. If you wanted to know something, you went to a library. Then came the age of the miracle known as Television. It turned people's heads from printed...

Global commitment to curb illicit financial flows

After the formal launching of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September this year, different parties are now examining the targets finally adopted. The examination process is part of the exercise required for finalisation of the indicators next year. At...

South Sudan rebels free 18 Bangladeshi soldiers

The 18 Bangladeshi peacekeepers abducted by rebels from a barge in White Nile River in Upper Nile state of South Sudan on Monday, were freed by their captors on Friday.  The rebels detained a dozen United Nations contractors and seized...

Process on to frame new Ins corpn act

A process is underway to frame a new insurance corporation act with necessary amendment to the country's existing act in line with the two new insurance laws, officials said. The Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) has prepared a draft...

Dhaka moves to tap potential as sanctions on Tehran go

Dhaka considers Tehran a big potential market as various sanctions on Iran are going to be withdrawn following its conclusion of a nuclear deal with world powers, officials have said. The two nations are set to sit for second foreign...

Lead MFI to rule over rural anti-poverty drive

A new agency styled 'Lead MFI (micro-finance institution) System' is in the offing to coordinate poverty-reduction programmes at the root level. Officials said the Micro-credit Regulatory Authority (MRA) is going to introduce the Lead MFI System with a view to...

DSEX dips below 4,600-mark amidst selling frenzy

Stocks extended their losing spell for the four straight weeks that ended Thursday with key index of the prime bourse dipping below the 4,600-mark as investors were concerned over macro- economic outlook. Analysts say listed companies' lower-than-expected earning disclosures, concern...

The Satyam accounting scandal: Elaborate crafting of fraud

A special court under India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on April 10 held the founders and former officials of the outsourcing firm, Satyam Computer Services, guilty in an accounting scam worth Rs 7,000 crore ($1.1 billion). B Ramalinga Raju,...

When hilsa returns to its old habitat upstream Padma

Few can say for sure when hilsa was last sighted in the Padma near Rajshahi. As the mighty river largely silted up, with swathes of sandbars dotting the riverbed, the delicious silver fish had receded far down to the Mawa...

From poverty in plenty to malnutrition

The writer of this article had the privilege of participating in an important discussion on nutritional status in South Asia and the doable. Once the main malady afflicting the region was poverty in plenty; now it is malnutrition. While countries...