BTRC allows flexible mobile data package offerings

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has published a significant update on its guidelines, giving mobile network operators (MNOs) a greater flexibility in data package offering and promoting digital inclusion across the country. The most notable change is the elimination...

Market to remain stable, predicts BTTC

The prices of key essential items are likely to remain stable during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan due to multiple government initiatives, according to a report released by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) on Sunday.It stressed the...

Mutual fund industry struggles as investor confidence wanes

Mutual fund (MF) investors are in a tight corner as almost all the listed funds witnessed significant price erosion in 2024, reflecting the broader downtrend in the stock market.Except for one, all closed-end mutual funds saw price drops ranging from...

Massive date palm garden created to keep up heritage

COX'S BAZAR, Jan 12: A date palm garden has been set up along an extensive area by an individual in Khurushkul's Monopara, just two and a half kilometers away from Cox's Bazar town, with a view to retaining a waning...

Balancing ties with China and India

In the previous article (Part I), we have discussed how Bangladesh’s emerging economic relationship with China can lead to new developments in its bilateral negotiations with India, which are required for resolving some of the crucial issues like Ganges and...

Crisis of commodity is no problem, affordability is

The litany of assurances of measures to solve any crisis including containing price hikes of essentials is a trademark playing-to-the-gallery ploy resorted to by a political government. This is not expected from an interim non-political government. Results of its actions...

To be innovative to boost revenue income

The government's recent decision to hike up Value-Added Tax (VAT) and Supplementary Duty (SD) on more than one hundred goods and services has taken flak from the public as well as the business community--- and for good reasons. Obviously, as...

Major overhaul of institutional, distribution flaws likely

A government-formed taskforce to reframe development strategies for the economy is likely to submit its first report this week with focus on some key aspects, including containing inflation and bridging digital divide.The 12-member taskforce formed on September 10, 2024, headed...

Market intermediaries face scrutiny amid low impact and eroding investor confidence

The role of numerous market intermediaries in the country has come under fresh scrutiny, with concerns raised about their low turnover rates and nominal contribution to market growth.Some intermediaries have also been blamed for eroding investor confidence, particularly through alleged...

Unpaid wage issues, provocation rock RMG industry

Over a thousand of incidents like work abstention, road blockade, attacks and vandalism have roiled Bangladesh's potential readymade garment industry since August uprising to December last year, according to a report.The report has recorded some 1108 such incidents during the...

Crisis brewing in shipping industry

CHATTOGRAM, Jan 11: The shipping industry is now faced with mounting challenges following the withdrawal of tax exemption coupled with the imposition of VAT on the sector, posing a serious threat to its growth.In 2022, the government had announced a...

Bumper harvest, but farmers face loss

A video clip of aggrieved farmers destroying their cauliflower in the field as they fail to recover even the basic costs of production is doing the rounds on social media. Mainstream media is also abuzz with stories of farmers not...

NBR's puzzling move and IMF loan strings

The move of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to raise value-added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) on nearly 100 goods and services has evoked both surprise and anguish.Surprise, because the hike that has come halfway through the current...

Leveraging ties with China to influence India

Bangladesh’s geopolitical location within South Asia is at the very heart of an unfolding intricate geopolitical competition between two regional giants, namely China and India. An emerging economy with vital sea routes, major river systems, and growing markets, Bangladesh has...

CU MBA Association celebrates 30 years with visionary leadership event

The MBA Association at University of Chittagong (MAUC) successfully organised "Leadership Catalyst Program (LCP): Empowering Future Change-Makers", an initiative designed to foster professional growth, enhance leadership capabilities, and build lasting networks among students, club executives, and alumni. The programme took...

Why non-native teachers can excel with native students

Borders no longer confine education in the modern world. Teachers and students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds frequently come together, sharing knowledge and perspectives in increasingly globalised classrooms. The question of whether non-native speakers can teach native speakers effectively...

Hasina's data fudging & the white paper

The draft White Paper on state of the Bangladesh economy mentions “data” more often than either “development” or “economy”. It simply had to. If the murder of Bangladesh’s economy was the crime, data manipulation was the cover up. As the...

Many surprised at bank directors’ exemption

Former directors of the state-owned BASIC Bank, who were reportedly involved in the bank's multiple loan scams, have still remained outside the trial process, according to case documents.The then board chairman, Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu, has been accused in the...

BBS takes Tk 186.53m project to do 5 surveys

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has undertaken a project involving Tk186.53 million to conduct five surveys on industry and service-sectors, parallel to its ongoing Tk5.8 billion economic census aimed at collecting detailed data on all non-agricultural economic units across...

Justice Murshed: The national inspiration

I met Justice Murshed in his twilight years when he had become frail and ailing, yet one could notice his greatness and the respect he commanded. Having been introduced by late Shamsur Rahman as a young poet, whenever I went...

Looming clouds on the Ekushey Book Fair

As the fountainhead of Bangalee ethos, the February 21, 1952 continues to inspire the nation for scaling greater height. It grew into the unstoppable all-pervasive transcendence into the greatest achievement the Bangalees have ever made---an independent land of their own....

Lost cultures: A reflection on past and present threats

In the rich tapestry of human history, cultural diversity has been our most treasured asset, defining who we are and how we live. But over the past two centuries, dominant religious ideologies have often unraveled this colorful weave, erasing traditions...

SOS from rivers around the city

How a boon turns into a bane or a blessing into a curse is best exemplified by the highly deplorable condition of the rivers around the capital city. Nature created these streams for its own sake, man also found them...

Scheduled trains' trial on new Jamuna bridge soon

All scheduled trains to and from Dhaka as well as the railway's western zone areas will soon run on the newly-built Jamuna railway bridge on a trial basis before the structure's formal inauguration.Officials said about 38 trains now running on...

Midyear ordinance amends VAT law

A plethora of products and services, including medicines, talk-time and the internet, get costlier following a midyear amendment to the VAT law. The amended Value-Added Tax (VAT) law brings a total of 43 products and services under a higher-tax regime.An...

Poet of the Forbidden Editorial

An epoch-making poet – enjoying undying popularity among the young Bangladeshis because of his youthful utterances that captivated generations of poetry-lovers – Poet Helal Hafiz (1948-2024) left us for eternity on December 13, 2024.He was most notably the creator of...

BRICS' potential for changing global economic order

With Indonesia joining the BRICS, a platform looking for strengthening South-South Cooperation and setting into motion a new world order, it now accounts for 40 per cent of the world population and 35 per cent of the global gross domestic...

Surge in fertiliser subsidies feared

Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) fears the government's fertiliser-import subsidy burden will get heavier as the state-run banks are compelled to clear bills at higher dollar rates, sources say.It has requested the industries ministry to take steps in this regard.The...

Govt borrows Tk 690b from banks in H1 for deficit financing

Government borrowings from scheduled banks swelled over Tk 690 billion in the first half (H1) of this fiscal for deficit financing but its net debt dropped to over Tk 146 billion after repayment.The ministry of finance borrowed Tk 690.54 billion...

Probe begins into CDA project anomalies

CHATTOGRAM, Jan 08: An investigation has been launched into alleged corruption and other anomalies in 13 development projects undertaken during the tenure of former chairman of Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) Abdus Salam.Meanwhile, a five-member committee has started work through issuing...