Reserve management: From gold standard to gold exchange standard

The 1920s and 1930s were pivotal decades for foreign exchange portfolio management by central banks. The period saw the rise and fall of the so-called gold-exchange standard. The idea of replacing the gold standard with a gold exchange standard, building...

Cities for migrants: The news is not all bad

In many countries, particularly in Europe, immigration is increasingly framed as a security issue. Mainstream politicians, bowing to pressure from fear-mongering populists, are calling for tighter restrictions, and some countries are openly flouting their legal obligation and moral responsibility to...

Applying \'plan bee\' successfully

The arrival of an elephant -not by choice but swept by flood waters -from India kept inhabitants of a few villages under Sarishabari upazila, Jamalpur district in a state of anxiety for about two months. People were inquisitive also about...

BSEC, both bourses skid into the soup

The securities' regulator and both the bourses are now in the soup over some 'irregularities' in completing the amalgamation process of Summit Power and three other companies. Following an order of the High Court (HC), the listed company Summit Power...

Move to improve ‘right’ targeting of BB refinancing loan

The livestock department will sit with the central bank authority soon to find ways of preventing misuse of low-cost loans meant for milk and meat production under refinancing scheme, a senior official said. The Department of Livestock Services under the...

White Helmets, Omran and fading hopes in Syria

One thousand and one hundred days. That's the length of time in which they woke up daily thinking they might be lucky enough to dig one person out alive. For more than 1,100 days, actually, they have opened their eyes...

Indian court gives women entry to inner sanctum of famous Mumbai mosque

Women in India have the right to fully access a famous mosque in the city of Mumbai, a top court ruled on Friday, bolstering a nationwide campaign aimed at securing women their religious rights and allowing them entry into all...

The woman who kills drug dealers for a living

When you meet an assassin who has killed six people, you don't expect to encounter a diminutive, nervous young woman carrying a baby. "My first job was two years ago in this province nearby. I felt really scared and nervous...

Ghost migrants eke out life on Greek-Macedonia border

Inside the sleepy canteen of Idomeni, the Greek railway post on the border with Macedonia, the ring of a phone breaks the endless silence. Stratos, the manager, jots down the order: five portions of okra, three of chicken, four salads,...

Rousseff allies fight impeachment in Brazil political turmoil

Angry quarrels erupted at suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's impeachment trial Friday, while her key ally, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, faced corruption charges on a day of turmoil for Latin America's largest country. Day two of Rousseff's Senate trial...

The saving-investment puzzle revisited: Is a linear relationship unfounded?

The least developed countries (LDCs) such as Bangladesh are often hamstrung by a lack of resources - domestic and foreign - needed for investment. Achievement of a high rate of economic growth is the only way to improve the standard...

Pre-WWI accumulating motives

Traditional explanations of the accumulation of foreign reserves have emphasised rising entanglements between politics and money management. Because the export of capital had significant implications for the management of sterling, the Bank of England played an increasingly important role in...

Diamonds make a woman weep and a man weak in the knees

In the 1953 classic Hollywood film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Marilyn Monroe, gave a legendary performance. Clad in a bright pink ball gown and dazzling diamonds, she epitomised the significance of diamonds with her upbeat and seductive song: Diamonds Are a...

Tackling the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

King Henry VIII, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, all lost their mothers to infections following childbirth, and literature abounds with tragic stories of maternal death, from A Christmas Carol to Wuthering Heights, Far From the Madding Crowd,...

The state of woman entrepreneurship

Not very long ago 'woman entrepreneur' was an oxymoron. To many in society and by available evidence women and entrepreneurship did not go to-gether. The belief was not only widespread it was well-entrenched. Entrepreneurship, with inherent risk and uncertainty did...

Govt goes for financial management overhaul

The government is set to start a comprehensive reform of public financial management under a five-year strategy to ensure proper use of national resources and better execution of national budget, officials said. On August 22, the finance minister endorsed a...

Metro rail contractor, IDRA at odds over insurance coverage

A foreign contractor of the metro rail project has threatened to go for entire insurance coverage of his part of works abroad unless the insurance regulator stops pushing it to have 50 per cent coverage from state-run Sadharan Bima Corporation...

Trend of going abroad for studies growing

The number of Bangladeshi students going abroad for studies has been on the rise over the years, sources have said.  According to them, some factors including career opportunities, better education system and inadequate job opportunities at home are encouraging many...

Stocks end lower on profit-booking

Stocks witnessed marginal fall last week that ended Wednesday, after remaining upbeat in the previous week, as most of the investors opted for quick-profit booking amid lack of market triggers. The market remained closed Thursday due to public holiday on...

The power of empathy

Empathy is a key element of Emotional Intelligence. It establishes the link between self and others as it is how we as individuals understand what others are experiencing. Researchers generally define empathy as the ability to sense other people's emotions,...

Basking in reflected glory

With the curtain falling on the Rio Olympic 2016, competing nations and participants are taking their stocks. The people in Bangladesh hardly have any expectation from the greatest sporting show on this planet. It is all because in the global...

Reserve management: The rise of official reserves

For many years, Belgium was praised by economists but without followers. When Japanese policy makers decided to pattern the statutes of the Bank of Japan  (BOJ) after the "ideal" case of the Bank of Belgium, they conspicuously avoided authorising the...

There is hope, hope for a better future

In fact, developing countries seek multilateral cooperation enabling them to gain increased access to the knowledge and expertise of other Southern countries and to identify partners in key strategic areas such as industry, trade and investment, environment and natural resource...

BB to ask banks on steps taken to reduce NPLs

The central bank is set to ask banks, having more than 5.0 per cent classified loans on total outstanding, to inform about their initiatives for reducing the volume of such loans, officials said. As per the decision, the Bangladesh Bank...

NBR seeks DCs’ help in VAT collection

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has sought cooperation from the district administrations to ensure compliance with VAT payments by the businesses operating outside cities. The Value Added Tax (VAT) wing under the board has recently sent letters to all...

India renews push for country origination label in jute bags

India has again reminded Bangladesh of complying with the mandatorily marking country of origin in exported jute bags, officials said. "This stipulation is often violated and imports of jute bags without bearing any mark of the country of origin, thereby,...

Making education meaningful

People involved with educating the country's young generation has got reason enough to gloat over this year's higher secondary results. Both pass rate and the number of GPA (grade point average)-5 achievers have registered substantial improvement. Compared with the previous...

South-South trade grows to unprecedented level

The overseas development assistance (ODA) was reduced by 12 per cent in 2014 and increased future flows are uncertain to Bangladesh.  In fact, it hardly could match its 2008 ODA figure in last seven years. Therefore, our experts are coming...

Banks\' NPLs likely to swell further in next quarters

The volume of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the country's banking sector might even grow bigger at the end of the current quarter (July-September), some senior bankers have expressed the fear.  The bankers have a feeling that some borrowers would default...

Reserve management: A historical perspective

Borio, Claudio, Gabriele Galati and Alexandra Heath (2008) in an insightful survey of the Bank for International Settlements several years ago reflected on trends in foreign reserve management. They noted an alignment of central banks' portfolio management strategies and standards...