Free trade access to largest market mostly missed, remedies overlooked

Bangladesh miserably fails to avail the enormous opportunities the world's largest market, China, has offered, mainly due to a deep-seated crisis in product diversification, competitiveness, and inept strategic execution, experts say.China has granted Bangladesh zero-tariff entry for 98 per cent...

After IMF, JICA also opts to deal with political govt

Japanese financier JICA follows IMF footprint as it also now tags consultation with Bangladesh's upcoming political government to budget bankrolling as the national elections are in sight for transition from the interregnum.Officials say the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has...

The train to Bangladesh's only enclave in India

The moderate rain on an autumn morning reminds me of this year's prolonged monsoon as I arrive at the Lalmonirhat railway station. The station is a short rickshaw ride from Mission More, the northern district's main roundabout lined with hotels,...

Winter is on its wings to land in Bangladesh soon

On Tuesday morning last, temperature in Tentulia, the country's northern most point, was 14.5 degree Celsius. The indication is clear enough: winter has arrived and soon the country's middle and southern parts are gradually going to experience the fall of...

Unleashing the youth dividend in Bangladesh

Despite these challenges, it is clear that this is a momentous point in Bangladeshi history. This is because it is a country which is situated at a critical point in its national journey. Indeed, with a significant percentage, which is...

Finance goes tightfisted, trims ADP down to Tk 2.0t

Government's finance authority gets further tightfisted with the current development budget downsized by Tk 300 billion to Tk 2.0 trillion, officials say, citing hard times on the economic front in the interim period.The Finance Division has slashed Annual Development Programme...

Govt decides to exempt excise duty on 2026 Hajj air tickets

The advisory council of the interim government on Thursday approved a proposal to exempt excise duty on air tickets for Bangladeshi pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj in 2026, in a bid to reduce the overall cost of...

LDC graduation no guarantee for socio-economic justice

Bangladesh's graduation from its least developed country (LDC) status to a developing nation has become highly contentious. While the interim government is in favour of maintaining the timeline for the graduation scheduled for November, 2026, the private sector opposes such...

Govt to cancel six types of land deeds in June 2026

The government is set to cancel six types of land deeds in June next year, aiming to ensure a land management system with transparency and accountability. A high official at the land ministry has told The Financial Express the deeds...

Protesters storm COP30 blue zone

A group of activists, including indigenous and non-indigenous people, stormed the blue zone of COP30, the diplomatic centre of the United Nations (UN) climate conference in Brazil's Belém, on Tuesday night.Following the incident, the main entrance to the venue was...

Tackling water scarcity in Barind tracts

That ground water table is falling dangerously low is a major worry for the country. This has been going on over the last few decades and experts have been repeatedly sounding alarms. Over-extraction to meet the growing need of an...

Leading mobile operators push for revision of terms

The country's three leading mobile operators -- Grameenphone, Robi Axiata and Banglalink -- have jointly urged the telecom regulator to revise the terms of the forthcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, warning that the current framework could discourage investment and impede...

ICB sees Tk 12b frozen in failed banks, NBFIs

The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) is facing a heavy loss of more than Tk 12.05 billion as it has been unable to recover any of the money invested in fixed deposit receipts (FDRs) with 12 troubled financial institutions.Of the...

The Flow Fest Dhaka brings a new meaning to creativity, fitness and well-being

The Flow Fest Dhaka, taking place from November 6 to 8, has provided a window of opportunity for residents to breathe fresh air and focus on fitness. Located in Justice Shahabuddin Park, around the lake, multiple centres were established to...

Bangladesh-China trade in commercial services: what the numbers reveal

Bangladesh-China bilateral trade in commercial services increased more than four times over the last two decades, although the volume of trade in commercial services is far below that of merchandise. At present, trade in commercial services with China accounts for...

Call for mobilising finance for forest protection and climate resilience

The 30th edition of the United Nations' Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, kicked off in Belém, Brazil, on November 10 (Monday), bringing together global leaders, activists, and experts in a crucial gathering to address accelerating climate change.Under Brazil's presidency,...

JICA rejects proposal pointblank on 'disappointment'

Japan international cooperation agency (JICA) has rejected outright Dhaka metro-rail company's request to cancel entire biddings on two contract packages for MRT-5 North, on a note of "disappointment with the request","Jica will not concur on any such request," Yoshida Hirosh...

Govt downsizes current budget by Tk 150b, to ramp up next one

With election and a new government in sight in a couple of months, the interim incumbent seems edgy as it downsizes the current fiscal budget while sets sights high in calculating the next one. A meeting of the committee for...

Is an AI therapist dependable?

The story of how a 13-year-old adolescent girl, Juliana Paratha, of Colorado in USA, committed suicide following long conversations with an AI chatbot, as reported by BBC shocked many. The girl shared her most private emotional experiences with the chatbot....

Health ministry seeks Tk 34.22 billion in emergency funds to sustain services

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is seeking Tk 34.22 billion in emergency spending -- entirely from domestic sources -- to meet urgent healthcare needs beyond the existing budget allocation for the current fiscal year (2025-26).Officials said the ministry...

FE's 32-year-long journey: Eventful and inspiring

The Financial Express (FE), Bangladesh's first and oldest business daily, completes its 32 years of existence today. On this momentous occasion, we express our deep gratitude to our valued readers, advertisers, shareholders of the FE's owning company, the International Publications...

Revenue board opposes blanket scrapping of tax incentives

A willy-nilly government action undoing time-bound tax-breaks falters as investors lodge multiple objections and take the matter up with court on alleged breach of commitment.Tax officials say the abrupt phasing out of these exemptions - the first of its kind...

No music & sports teachers for primary schools!

The planned appointment of music and sports teachers to government primary schools has been cancelled. This decision has invited protests from different cultural organisations, educators, child rights activists and students of a number of universities. Apparently, the interim government has...

Development damaging Nature, defying law

Already ranked ninth globally for climate disaster risk, according to the World Risk Index 2023, Bangladesh, so far, seems to have resigned itself to its fate. Worse, it has been doing everything to make matters worse often in the name...

A generation sees future murky

Can you imagine a home that feels like a jail? For more than a million Rohingya in the camps of Cox’s Bazar, barbed wire isn’t just a boundary — it’s a barrier to the future. For children here, eight years...

Debt sustainability: risks from climate-financing exigencies 

Bangladesh has long maintained an impressive record of external debt servicing, standing out among least-developed countries for its fiscal discipline and strong export performance. For decades, the country has met its repayment obligations with relative ease, reflecting prudent financial management...

From democracy to mafioso reign in Bangladesh: a chronological review

Following the exit of the caretaker regime after the holding of the 9th parliamentary election in December 2008, expectations ran high among the people in Bangladesh that the grand-alliance government led by Awami League (AL) would keep its pledge of ushering...

Populism and policymaking

In recent years populism has emerged as a powerful social and economic factor influencing politics, governance and policymaking across a broad swath of the world. Its appeal lies in a rhetorical division of society into ‘the people’ versus the ‘elite’...

Trust deficit, corruption, bureaucratic inefficiency and growth erosion in Bangladesh

It is a sticky morning in Dhaka when a young entrepreneur goes to a government office, hoping to extend her trade licence. She employs twenty people, making local garments for export, and can double production effortlessly if it were easier....

Does globalisation have a future?

President Trump's trade war has upended the process of globalisation in a manner that has raised the question of whether it has any future. The backdrop to this is widespread discontent about its outcome that has spread from the developing...