Rejaul Karim Byron

Bangladesh is expecting another $1 billion in budget support towards the end of the year in a financing arrangement led by the Asian Development Bank.

The incidence of bribe requests in Bangladesh is less than in India and Pakistan, according to a recent report from the Asian Development Bank.

July’s development spending was the highest in four years on the back of enthusiastic fund utilisation by the local government division -- whose expenditure hit a record high for the first month of a fiscal year.

The much-awaited Rooppur nuclear power plant is coming along at more or less the expected pace but the country has to wait longer to enjoy the benefits as the power evacuation facility from the plant would not be ready on time.

People belonging to the 31-40 age group have so far enroled the most for the newly-launched universal pension scheme.

At least 6,100 people signed up for the universal pension scheme as of 5:00pm yesterday, the first day.

The government has started the fiscal year with the resolve to borrow less from the central bank to fund its budget deficit as it looks to rein in the runaway inflation to a tolerable level ahead of the polls.

Bangladesh has formulated its maiden tariff policy to improve the competitiveness of local companies in the international market as they brace for an increased competition after the country becomes a developing nation in 2026. 

Private sector employers have to contribute 50 percent of their employees’ monthly instalments under the universal pension scheme, said a gazette from the finance ministry yesterday.

The banking sector’s total risky loans amounted to Tk 377,922 crore at the end of last year, in a development that makes for a sobering reading of the actual health of this vital sector of the economy.

Saved Tk 15,000cr against target of at least Tk 23,000cr last fiscal year

Bangladesh has failed to meet two of the six quantitative targets set for the first half of 2023 by the International Monetary Fund for the $4.7 billion loan, with one of them being a mandatory condition.

Inflation slowed down slightly in July but not enough to bring any relief to the urban poor and the lower middle-class in Dhaka and Chattogram, who have been battling a cost of living crisis for a good year now.

In fiscal 2019-20, the Dhaka Central Jail authorities forked out Tk 9.11 crore to procure rice for inmates. That rice turned out to be unfit for consumption.

Though the government has allocated a large amount of subsidy to the power sector, it is unable to disburse the amount as per demand due to narrow fiscal space.

Short-term foreign debt in the private sector fell to $13.66 billion in June, down 3 percent from $14.08 billion in May, as repayments outpaced new loans during the period, according to Bangladesh Bank.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs yesterday approved the draft of the production sharing contract (PSC) for offshore gas exploration that Petrobangla insists ensures a fair deal for both the government and the international oil companies (IOCs).

Global rating agency Standard and Poor’s yesterday downgraded Bangladesh’s long-term rating outlook from stable to negative on the back of a continued decline in foreign exchange reserves despite an ongoing IMF programme and lower import bills.

After the sudden drop in Bangladesh’s official foreign exchange reserves on July 13, another rude shock awaits: as per IMF conditions, the banking sector’s distressed assets will be published, in what would make for a grim reading about the industry’s health.

The private sector’s shrinking appetite for foreign loans is likely to put further pressure on the country’s strained dollar stockpile, according to bankers and experts.