Metro-rail expansion hits dead end with projects stalled

Nearly half a million commuters benefit daily from Bangladesh's maiden operational metro rail -- many making a joy ride over Dhaka city -- its projected expansion has effectively stalled with projects gathering dust.Sector analysts also air doubt about government intention...

How to turn idle screen time into something creative with AI

We all have been there. Picking up the phone for a quick look and suddenly losing an entire evening to an endless scroll of grim headlines and chaotic opinions. It feels passive, heavy, and strangely addictive. We end up regretting...

A blueprint for restoring trust

The stability and integrity of a nation’s banking system are fundamental pillars of economic prosperity and public confidence. To ensure these systems function effectively, insulated from short-term pressures and vested interests, a comprehensive and principled reform agenda is essential. The...

Economic reading of BD's 2025 ordinances

In 2025, Bangladesh's interim government issued 78 ordinances covering labour rights, judicial procedures, digital security, and constitutional governance. These ordinances carry economic consequences. As economic activity is ultimately governed by law, changes in rules and institutions directly affect transaction costs,...

A society off its rocker

Reports of gruesome murder over political rivalries, turf wars among armed groups, or even family conflicts grab headlines from time to time. To ordinary people, the very report of killing one person by another is something shocking. But nowadays, it...

Bangladesh's election goes paperless, not painless

When the election campaign formally began on 22 January 2026, Dhaka did not suddenly fall silent. Loudspeakers still crackled in alleyways, leaflets were quietly slipped into hands at tea stalls, and candidates continued their rounds of courtyards and marketplaces. Yet...

A new direction on spectrum pricing in South Asia

Telecom regulators in South Asia are rarely regarded as global role models and often lag behind international best practices. Yet Pakistan has taken a notable step by significantly reducing spectrum base prices for its upcoming auction in February 2026.Compared to...

Invisible labour of sustainability: recognising the care work

A pre-dawn darkness in a village in the Rajshahi district is illuminated only by the acrid scent of smoke, invigorating a woman as she rises in her mud-walled kitchen. Her hands, hardened by years of toil, tend the chula (stove)...

Kitchen market growing jittery once again

Kitchen market serves as the pulse of microeconomics in a country. Prices, however affordable or not, depend on supply of essentials due to seasonal variations. Winter is the time when there is a surfeit of vegetables in market and naturally...

Saga of hapless migrant workers

Past and present governments of Bangladesh have traditionally been very effusive in praising the hard work the migrant workers do abroad and send home their precious dollars. But they have not been equally concerned about what these foreign-bound job-seekers go...

Metro-rail coaches to be made in Bangladesh with foreign investment

A reputed South Korean company has in principle agreed to invest in an assembling plant of metro-rail coaches in Bangladesh, which is expected to be a major import-substitution venture.A delegation of Woojin Industrial System has offered partnership with Dhaka Mass...

Post-election market recovery unlikely without structural reforms

There is hyped expectation in the secondary market that it will recover after the upcoming national election with the return of political stability, but experts rule this out, saying fundamental change is imperative.They say the overhaul of the banking sector...

Growing visa restrictions: A wake-up call for Bangladesh

The United States has temporarily suspended immigrant visas for applicants from Bangladesh and 74 other countries. Effective from January 21, the restriction has been imposed citing concerns that a large number of immigrants from these countries rely on government benefits...

Election time inflation in Bangladesh

National elections critically influence economic growth and inflation across countries. Studies have examined patterns such as declining growth and rising inflation in election years. As Bangladesh prepares for the 13th parliamentary election on February 12, along with the referendum on...

One-person company registration galore

One-person companies (OPCs) galore with a record 301 registered in just first six months of the fiscal year, surpassing the total formed in several previous full years, official data show.According to statistics from the Office of the Registrar of Joint...

UNHCR seeks alternative funding as major donors tighten their grip

With contributions from the major donors drying up gradually, the UNHCR, the UN agency for protecting refugees and forcibly displaced communities, is now looking for donations from alternative countries and sources, including Bangladesh, officials said.The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner...

BB seeks authority to override law, waive banks' CRR penalties

Bangladesh Bank moves to bolster its regulatory authority to waive, remit, or reduce penalties for banks' Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) shortfalls in special circumstances as the central bank oversees the largest bank-consolidation effort in nation's history.To this end, sources say,...

The many nuances of hawking by roving hawkers

While living in Kolkata, Syed Mujtaba Ali, a versatile genius, once asked one of his followers and regular visitors, if he could correctly follow what the many roving hawkers shouted to offer as commodity or service. Barring a few of...

NRBC Bank to boost CMSME financing and expand digital services

NRBC Bank plans to boost financing in the CMSME sector while expanding its digital channels, including an app called 'Planet', to deliver financial services to unbanked and underbanked populations across the country, the bank's top policymaker has said."Our medium-term objectives...

Importance of training for banks

Every year, National Training Day in Bangladesh is observed on January 23. This year, Bangladesh observed the 30th anniversary to emphasise the importance of training for human resource development, skill enhancement, and economic growth. Over the years, Bangladesh Institute of...

A project that ended but did not really end

The government is yet to find ways to close one of the troubled projects of the Awami League regime, though the proposal for extending its deadline and increasing the cost was rejected in July last year.Sources say a meeting chaired...

Consequences of interim govt's indifference to law and order

The press wing of the Chief Adviser has admitted that 645 incidents of violence against members of the minority communities occurred in 2025 but it clarifies that of those 71 could be categorised as communal. Only recently did the Human...

Metro rail safety audit may take longer

Inspecting the under-operation metro rail for a safety audit may take more time, as the Dhaka metro rail company lacks the required information to support any independent inspection firm.However, officials said Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has started working...

BTRC moves to award 700 MHz spectrum to GP amid legal challenge

Bangladesh's telecom regulator has moved forward with a controversial allocation of 700 MHz spectrum to Grameenphone (GP), despite unresolved legal disputes, objections from rival operators and mounting accusations of regulatory bias that critics warn could further entrench market imbalance.The Bangladesh...

Loan defaulters should be in jail, not parliament

The remark of an election commissioner that the loan-defaulting candidates were being validated ‘with a heavy heart’ speaks volumes for the Commission’s predicament in the absence of a robust legal mechanism and decisive political backing, writes Atiqul Kabir TuhinNon-performing loans...

'The Ugly American'

A novel with the eponymous title was written in the sixties by two Americans, Eugene Burdick and William Lederer, that was later made into a Hollywood movie. The book was a critique of the scatter-brained foreign policy pursued by American...

Project kicks off to boost revenue mobilisation

A first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation by ensuring interoperability among different wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has started operations.The government has already signed a financing agreement with the World Bank on this, and the...

10-year bond yield slides on dollar buys

The yield on 10-year treasury bonds declined on Tuesday as the central bank purchased an additional US$45 million from two banks in a bid to stabilise the exchange rate of the US dollar against the local currency.According to auction results,...

Exporters invite stakeholders to visit major zones

The Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) has invited senior state officials and key stakeholders to visit the major frozen seafood processing zones in Khulna, Chattogram, and Cox's Bazar, sources say.Experts view this as a bid to secure policy support...

ACI's growth paradox: A profitable parent, bleeding subsidiaries

ACI has continued expanding into new territories despite its already launched subsidiaries and associate companies weighing heavily on its business and pushing it into the red.In FY25, ACI's standalone profit stood at about Tk 3.99 billion, up 19 per cent...