Rejaul Karim Byron

The government is set to increase its subsidy expenditure by 17.30 percent from the current year to Tk 27,954 crore in fiscal 2017-18

The number of beneficiaries, who get allowances and food from the government under various social safety net programmes (SSNPs),

When Finance Minister AMA Muhith presents the budget in parliament tomorrow, he will likely gloat about it -- Tk four lakh crore in size -- which is 26 percent bigger than the one for the outgoing fiscal year. Not that presenting a big budget is of great significance for Muhith; he has been doing it for the past few years. In fact, it is under his tutelage that the budget has risen from below Tk one lakh crore in 2009 to Tk four lakh crore this time around.

A fifth of the forthcoming fiscal year's total development budget is earmarked for six fast-track projects to make their progress visible before the next general elections.

The government is getting ready to further increase its fiscal outlay on food dole in the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The government will keep an allocation in next year's budget to meet state banks' capital deficit in continuation of a years-long trend

Indian Reliance Group has drawn up a plan to set up a 750 megawatt power plant, to be run on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG),

Private investment continues to remain obstinately stuck in the slow lane, putting a damper on the country's growth

The government plans to increase the food subsidy by around 32 percent to Tk 3,721 crore in the revised budget for the outgoing fiscal year.

The government's decision to switch to release quarterly inflation data from its current monthly practice has been met with criticisms from economists, who said the move would not be good for the economy.

Food inflation almost doubled in the month of March, spurred by rising prices of various essentials including rice, which went on to

The government is gunning for record foreign aid utilisation next fiscal year with the view to wooing the electorate ahead of the

Bangladeshi migrant workers will be able to send home their hard-earned money free of cost likely from July as the government has made a move to boost the remittance inflow.

Expenditure under the social safety net programmes, including allowance for the elderly and widows, will be increased substantially in the next fiscal year to give more benefits to the ultra-poor.

The government is likely to set a flat 12 percent VAT rate by amending the new VAT law in the face of demands from various quarters, according to finance ministry officials.

The government plans to take up a massive $16 billion programme for secondary education to transform the sector by improving the quality of education and developing employability skills of secondary graduates.

The banking division is in favour of allowing local businesses to invest abroad -- a stark contrast to the central bank's stance on the

The government is set to lay down an ambitious foreign aid utilisation target for next fiscal year with the aim of

Bangladesh has lost between $6 billion and $9 billion to illicit money outflows in 2014, according to a Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report.

The government may not go ahead with its plans to set up a $10 billion sovereign wealth fund in the end -- in what