Govt forms committees for proper management

The government has formed a number of monitoring committees to ensure proper management of rawhides and skins of sacrificial animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has published official orders by forming some committees, including central joint coordination,...

July Unity demands removal of ‘AL-ally’ bureaucrats

July Unity, a coalition of 80 organisations formed after July, held a 'March to Secretariat' on Tuesday, demanding removal of Awami League (AL) allies and corrupt bureaucrats. The platform also presented a list of 44 officials who they identified as...

If govt doesn't administer oath to me, I’ll do it myself: Ishraque

BNP leader Ishraque Hossain has warned that if the government does not make arrangements for administering oath to him, he will take the oath himself as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) with the support of voters."The government...

ICT sets Jun 19 for contempt hearing against Hasina

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has set June 19 for a full hearing on a contempt of court case against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Shakil Alam Bulbul after both failed to appear in...

Salahuddin files complaint against Hasina, six others

BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed has submitted a complaint with the ICT against former PM Sheikh Hasina and six others, alleging that he had been made a victim of enforced disappearance from the capital about a decade ago.The BNP Standing Committee...

Rizvi slams interim govt

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has strongly criticised the interim government for keeping a provision in the proposed budget that allows the whitening of black money, reports UNB. "You (interim govt) have presented a budget of Tk...

Correction 2025-06-04

On pages 21 to 28 in Tuesday’s issue of The Financial Express the ‘Finance Ordinance 2025’ was erroneously mentioned as ‘Finance Bill 2025’. Moreover, the last para under the item number 55 of Chapter-3 of the Finance Ordinance 2025 should...

BNP wants polls under 90-day caretaker govt

BNP on Tuesday said it wants only the national election to be held under a non-party caretaker government and supports the 90-day tenure for such a non-party election-time government, reports UNB."Our party does not want local government elections to be...

Jamaat wants local govt polls under caretaker govt

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Tuesday proposed that both national and local government elections be held under a non-partisan caretaker government, reports UNB."Our proposal is that both national and local elections must take place under a caretaker government," Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed...

Biman eyes 30pc rise in cargo handling this year

Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the sole ground handler at the country's airports, eyes a 30-percent rise in its handling of both domestic and international cargoes to reach 0.434 million tonnes this year.Biman handled 0.334 million metric tons of international and domestic...

Intermediary entities add little to no value

The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) has said that multiple intermediary entities in the telecom sector add little to no value to the core objective of seamless connectivity and have instead inflated costs and stifled innovation.The entities...

Highly ambitious budget's implementation to be difficult

The proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 has been termed highly ambitious by panellists at a post-budget discussion, who said its implementation will be difficult in the current economic and political contexts.Speaking at the discussion styled "Reflection, response...

Ctg chamber says budget to protect local industries

CHITTAGONG, June 03: The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) welcomed the budget for fiscal year 2025-26 and termed it as a pro-people and business-friendly one. The CCCI mentioned that the new budget will reduce the sufferings of people...

Execution challenging, say trade bodies

The proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 has been met with cautious approval by leading trade bodies, who praised its intent but flagged serious concerns about its implementation.While acknowledging the Finance Adviser's effort to address inflation, unemployment, and...

FY 25-26 budget reactions

Eid cattle trade begins in Dhaka city

The official sale of sacrificial animals commenced in the capital from Tuesday, ahead of Eid-ul-Azha which will be celebrated nationwide on June 7.In line with tradition, temporary cattle markets-locally known as haats-began operating four days before the festival.This year, a...

High-level body to be formed for review

The government is going to form a high-level committee to review the recently promulgated Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 due to widespread objections from government employees, reports UNB.Law Adviser Asif Nazrul made the announcement while speaking to reporters after receiving...

Govt employees, pensioners to get special incentives from July

Government employees and pensioners will receive a special incentive ranging between 10 per cent and 15 per cent, effective from July this year, says a finance ministry notification.It said that employees in Grades 1 to 9 will enjoy a 10...

LNG re-gasification hits record high at 1,050 mmcfd

Bangladesh's liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification reached its highest level ever on Monday as the regular berthing of LNG tankers to the floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) resumed, following last week's rough weather in the Bay of Bengal.The country's...

Merchandise export earnings see double-digit growth in May

The country's single-month merchandise-export earnings in May 2025 witnessed a double-digit growth of 11.45 per cent year on year to fetch US$4.73 billion due to the sustained performance of ready-made garment industry.Bangladesh earned $4.25 billion in May 2024, according to...

Prayer Timings (2025-06-04)

BD becoming self-reliant in air shipment of its exports

A surprise Indian restriction on aerial transshipment taboo on Bangladesh exports turns a blessing in disguise with the latter poised to become self-reliant in air shipment, officials say. Airfreight facilities are taking a facelift at all the country's internationalairports in...

Budget not consistent with July spirit of equity, employment: CPD

Economic-policy analysts at the CPD see the interim government's maiden budget paradoxical to July spirit of equity for its customary fiscal measures and take exception to the black-money-whitening provision in particular.The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says although the proposed...

Inflation to fall to 7.0pc by Sept

Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur on Tuesday expressed hope that the rate of inflation would fall to 7.0 per cent by this September, paving the way for lowering the policy interest rate.He said there were two big challenges -...

Budget framed within means for easing life: Salehuddin

This budget is framed realistically within the means and for easing people's life, sans growth hypes of yesteryears, interim government's high-ups said to defend its maiden budgetary measures with curtailed spending on fund-guzzling development schemes. At a post-budget press meet...

Black money whitening not commendable

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has acknowledged that the opportunity to whiten black money in the proposed national budget is not a commendable measure and hinted that this provision might be reviewed, if required. In the proposed budget for the...

Transformative trade dynamics in Trump era

Yanis Varoufakis, globally respected political economy thinker and former finance minister of Greece recently in an article wrote: “Trump understands how raw economic power, not marginal productivity, decides who does what to whom — both domestically and internationally”. Yes, economic...

Bangladesh's export future: education and research is the key

In the globalised economy, the countries that have risen fastest and sustained growth longest are those that embraced exports. The 2008 World Bank Growth Report is unequivocal: countries with outward-oriented policies consistently outperformed those looking inward. For Bangladesh, a country...

Gig economy 3.0: Freelancers embracing AI

As reported by the Oxford Internet Institute, Bangladesh has emerged as a significant player in the global freelance market, ranking among the top 10 countries for online labour. With over 650,000 freelancers and a tech-savvy youth population, the country has...

Textile waste to fashion product

Bangladesh, the world's second-largest exporter of garments, has significantly shaped the global fashion industry by supplying affordable, high-quality clothing. However, this achievement comes at an environmental cost. The country's ready-made garment (RMG) sector generates an estimated 400,000 tonnes of textile...