Rejaul Karim Byron

Rice price in Bangladesh has remained at an elevated level despite higher imports in recent months on the back of lower customs duty and reduced price in the international market as well as a record stock in government warehouses.

Global credit ratings agency Fitch said Bangladesh’s economy would grow 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, powered by declining coronavirus infections and easing of supply chain disruptions.

The International Monetary Fund will inquire about Bangladesh’s progress in reforming the local banking and subsidy sectors as well as ongoing vaccination drive as it is set to hold its first dialogue with the government since the coronavirus outbreak.

Power and gas are likely to become pricier next after diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas as the government looks to calibrate the prices in the local market following a global price spiral since July.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is set to provide $750 million for vaccine purchase and to help the economy to recover from the fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic.

The economic growth rates posted in recent years were revised downwards but the size of the economy expanded thanks to a new base year adopted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

In 2017, with the view to alleviating the capital’s absurd traffic congestion, the government took up the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project to implement largely with Chinese funding.

The central bank has intensified its efforts to keep the exchange rate of the local currency stable in the face of rising demand for US dollars.

Farmers in Bangladesh sell most of their crops to meet their financial needs after keeping a small portion for the consumption of their families, according to a new survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

About 39.47 lakh establishments engaged in wholesale and retail trade, including motorcycle repair shops, contribute around 14 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The government has framed draft rules to allow local firms to set up subsidiaries or buy shares in companies in other countries with a view to facilitating investment abroad.

Bangladesh’s people have witnessed a huge surge in entrepreneurial spirit over the last couple of decades.

Inflation in Bangladesh increased for the third consecutive month in September as prices of both food and non-food items are showing upward movement, hurting the low-income people.

In a rare move, the government is not rushing into a $3-billion loan offer from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Bangladesh has received a huge amount of budget support from multilateral lenders to fight the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has officially abandoned its decade-long plan to build an expressway on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, a crucial cog for the Bangladesh economy, under public-private partnership -- after shelling out Tk 100 crore on a feasibility study and getting a detailed design.

The government will pay $569 million as the first annual instalment against the loan taken from Russia for the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant, the largest infrastructure development project in Bangladesh.

Although fast-track projects had previously witnessed slow implementation for various reasons including the pandemic, they are now progressing gradually, according to a report.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is expected to become operational from 2023, months ahead of the scheduled 2024 timeframe, said Shaukat Akbar, its project director.

Bangladesh is forecast to remain ahead of India in terms of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years to 2026 powered by buoyancy in remittance, exports and agricultural activities.

Bangladesh is taking on increasingly higher levels of debt to fund its infrastructure spending, crucial for the economy to level up to a middle-income one by 2041.